Affliction
by Jade puget's girl
Summary: Alex steadied himself and lowered into a crouch; like an animal ready to pounce. He glared at Nathan from underneath his hair with his electric eyes. Just one shock. That’s all it will take. I could do it now and it would all be over. He thought
1. Chapters 1

**Prelude**

It was 7:00 am now in Sydney, Australia; Angela Stewart had been up for nearly 24 hours on one cup of coffee and a bag of airplane peanuts. When she took the call she could hardly believe her ears. All her career she was waiting on someone for her experiment; a mutant of the right age to volunteer. That's not exactly what had happened but she was willing to give a little for the sake of research. From what she had heard, technically the kid had just let his identity slip and an old lady happened to see his eyes. Next thing he knew police were surrounding him like a criminal. There's no telling how long he had been hiding out. _He was just an unlucky little fellow _she thought.

"So how much farther?" she asked the rather large man whom she was following through a maze of hallways in the courthouse.

"Just a little ways more." he replied in is thick Australian accent.

He wore a black suit with overly shiny shoes for the occasion. _Over paid cop,_ she thought. "Do you know what the full extent of his power is?" she asked.

"No not yet we had to tranquilize him."

"Why?" she asked, a little anger in her voice.

"The little bastard nearly electrocuted us all to death. It took nearly twice the dose to take the skinny ankle biter down. He should be nearly awake by now though, considering how long it took you to get here."

"Really now?" she said with a slight laugh. It seemed a little bit of an over exaggeration, that a 15 year old boy took that much man power to hold down; even a mutant 15 year old boy. "Well, I had to make arrangements for my kids; then hop on an overcrowded plane with a thousand other sweaty tourists. So I'm sorry for my delay." He just glanced at her and kept walking.

Just then he turned down a wide hall to their right. "It's down here," he said. "The last door."

Two guards were outside the door and one tall skinny man, in yet another suit, with shortly cropped brown hair. As the large man left, the skinny man proceeded to walk up and greet her with a hand shake.

"Hi, I'm Officer Daniels, I'm the man in charge of the boy." said Daniels.

"Hi officer, I'm Angela Stewart the mutant researcher." she replied

"Right, well, he's right through here if you're ready to see him." he said motioning towards the door."

Angela looked at the thick door uneasily, _how bad was this kid?_ She thought. "I'm ready, I guess." she said; not quite sure what she had just gotten herself into.

He told the guards to open the doors. She took a deep breathe and slowly entered the room.

**Chapter 1 - the kid**

He was sitting on a metal bench that was attached to the walls in the small cell. They had his hands cuffed behind his back and he was clearly out of it. He was looking down at the floor with his hair covering his face. He was cold because in the process of bringing him in his shirt was torn off.

_This is ridiculous_ he thought as he looked at his bare feet. He could hardly keep his eyes open, but he knew he was recovering from the sedative. _They could have at least kept my shoes on my feet_. _What are they going to do with me? I haven't done anything wrong. _He thought. Just then the thick door creaked open and Angela walked in.

"Hi" she said. The boy didn't look up. "I'm Angela Stewart." She was now trying to see his face but with no luck. _They weren't playing were they… _she thought to herself_ He really isn't that strong looking. _She was walking slower now but still moving towards him. "What's your name?" she asked.

He slowly lifted his head which caused an enormous headache to take over him. _Damn cops _he thought. He glared at the woman through his thick brown hair. _Who the hell does she think she is? Does she think I'm just going to play nicey nice? _He thought. _ Oh Hi! I'm Alex nice to meet you. How was your day? … Oh mine was ace; I just got attacked by twenty police officers while minding my own business. No… I'll make her work for it._

She had brown hair, which was up in a tight pony tail, and a young appearance. She wore a black and gray pant suit with a pink undershirt under the jacket. She had black pointy toed heels that clicked on the hard floor as she walked in. She was tan but it was apparent that it was from artificial sun and not the real deal.

She stopped walking now clearly a little stunned at the glowing blue of his eyes. "Are you cold?" she asked looking at the chill bumps all over his arms.

"No." he said, lying.

"There we've made some progress, are you sure? I can have them bring you a shirt if you like. I don't know why they would be so careless as to let you sit here, shivering." she said talking louder so Daniels could hear her.

A spark flew from his hair and Angela jumped. "What was that?" she asked

_What do you mean, 'What was that?' You know good and damn well what it was. Now go away or let me out of here. _He thought. _The Seppo _**(American) **_Sheila is gonna sit here and get me all pissed off and then ill wake up with a horse tranquilizer in my side. _"Well you would know wouldn't you? You're the expert I mean." He said sarcastically, his accent shining through; as he looked at her straight on.

She looked his face over. _Well he's a smart ass. _She thought to herself._ How did he know what I did? Had I already told him? No. I hadn't. _She knew that for a fact. "Is that your power? To read minds?" she asked trying to sound caring.

He laughed, "No and I find it quite sad when you can't put two and two together."

"What do you mean?" she asked. _I hate him more and more every second _she thought_ why won't he just tell me?_

"I almost electrocuted everyone. Remember? What that bloke said to you down the hall. It's sad when even a mutant 'expert' can't figure it out. I control electricity, electric currents, and magnetic fields; that sort of thing."

"How…"

"How did I hear you all the way down the hall?" interrupted Alex. "Well let's say my power allows me to have bionic ears. So on and so forth. Depending on how I use it."

"So why haven't you escaped yet; if you can do all that you say you can?" Angela asked.

"Well now that the tranquilizer has worn off… I could." he said with a smirk as his handcuffs fell off of his wrists and onto the bench. He sat up straight, shook the hair from his face and put his hands on his knees. "I won't though."

During this Angela had backed up to the door and was even about to turn the handle. "You won't?" she wondered, her arm relaxing.

"Naw, considering it would involve me smashing through the building, destroying things; you know all that nonsense." he replied calmly. "It would cause a lot of money damages and lawsuits, and I'm no criminal; you see?" _I wish I had a camera _he thought _her face is priceless._

Angela was a little stunned. Once the handcuffs fell she had seen him blow the doors off the hinges, in her imagination. In her research, mutants were always known to have a reckless temper. Although, she had never actually met with one who would talk with her. He seemed different, though, genuinely honest. _A perfect candidate if he wasn't so bull headed. _She thought. "What did you say your name was?" she asked.

"I never said" he replied.

"What is it? You have to have a name." she said while putting her hands on her hips.

Faster than she could react; he was standing right next to her his face nearly inches away from hers. "No I don't. I'm a mutant. I don't count." he said, laughingly. _This is great. I could go on and on. _He thought.

The guards saw what was going on and immediately tried to open the door but the door wouldn't budge. It was magnetized shut. Angela was aware of this. She could see the outline of the door glowing faintly. _He's trying to scare me._ She thought. _Just don't let him get to you._ But he was getting to her. He was the same age as her own daughter. She couldn't help but feel for the kid and yet she had the urge to hit him.

"What's the matter? We aren't scared, are we?" he asked. "Now, ma'am I'm not going to hurt you."

"Now why would I ever think that?" she snapped. "Let them open the door, their to the point of panic."

"No." he said shocked by her pushiness. "They'll just come in here and sedate me again, and we all know that's no fun." He was backing away from her a little now so he could look through the small window on the door. "Just tell them everything's fine….Now." he said annoyed.

Angela turned cautiously and looked through the small window. "I'm fine" she mouthed the words carefully to make sure they understood. They did. Immediately they calmed down and resumed talking normally amongst themselves. _That's reassuring _she thought.

"What is your name?" she demanded.

"Again here we go with the name business." he replied. "Just don't worry about it Sheila."

_Sheila? _She thought._ Who does he think he is? _"Listen here. If your ready to stop playing around I have a deal I'd like to make with you."

_A deal …_ he thought. That wasn't what he had been expecting. He just stared at her not quite sure how to continue taunting.

"Well?" she pushed.

"…Ok."

"Your name?"

"… Alex."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - deal**

He sat there on the bench listening to the "deal" she was making with him. He kept going over the details in his head. He had no family; so instead of living on the street she wanted him to live with her…. Not only that, she was going to make him go to school as well. _But why?_ He wondered. _Yea that would be great to have a home, but does she know how I'm treated? There is no way she understands what she would be getting herself into. Why would she want to take me in?_ _Where's the catch?_

"I want you to stay with me, Alex, so I can show the world that mutants aren't dangerous." said Angela. "I want them to know that you're a person, and you're just a kid at that. I want them to know that there is nothing to worry about and that you shouldn't be discriminated against."

"You think that I'm going to be able to prove that?" he asked. "We're not allowed to use our power in public. We're not allowed to show people unless they ask. Oh, and the real kicker we _**have **_to show them if they ask. Those are all thanks to the new laws our fabulous Supreme courts passed recently. Oh and I imagine your government has the same deal. Am I right?"

She just nodded.

"You think I'm going to change that?"

"We are moving to get those revoked but first they want proof that you can control your power."

"Is that all? They just want proof? Well I can give them proof." he said angrily.

"I hope that when they go home they find out that their lovely little teenage daughter is a mutant and she's caught the house on fire because she had been practicing in secret…. That's the proof I hope they find."

Angela sat there in silence looking at Alex. _I can help him. I know I can. _She thought."If you come live with me you can go to school and the government has given me a permit for you; so you can use your power in public, as well. If you don't come with me though…"

"What? What are they going to do?"

"They'll register you and make sure you follow all of the mutant regulations here."

There was a long silence as he thought this over for a while looking at the small room. "I don't know." he said "what if I don't like it?"

"Then you can leave." she replied. "And it will be as if we've never met."

"Ugh…" _Maybe I should just go… It's worth it and plus I can leave if it's completely stupid. _He thought. "What would I have to do?" he asked.

"Well you would have to maintain a certain grade point average and be able to get along with other students. If they find that you are able to go to school and control your power then they are willing to drop some restrictions and allow mutants to attend school." she replied. "Also you would help me in understanding how the transformation affects people."

"Fine" he whispered.

"What?"

"Yea, I'll do it." he said speaking louder now.

"Good. Come on lets get you some clothes. You look like a homeless man." she said as she got up and headed towards the door.

"I kind of am" he said laughingly as he followed her. "You know that you hardly know me, and you've just invited me to live with you in your house for God knows how long."

"I'm aware of this, however, I think you're genuinely a good person and you won't let me down. Now will you?" she said as she laid her hand on the door knob.

"Ha. I guess not." he said looking at her.

"Alright then we have a deal." she said while holding her hand out to shake.

"A deal" he said taking her hand.

Alex was given a blue T-shirt and black and white addidas shoes. They were on their way to the car now so they could make their way to the airport.

"Do you need to pick up anything, from someone's house or something?" asked Angela.

"No I'm good; I don't really have anything." he said with a laugh.

"Because we won't be coming back. So you're sure?"

"Yea I'm sure." he replied. "Hey you know I never did ask you; where exactly do you live?" They were on the sidewalk now, heading for Angela's rental Mazda. She walked over to the driver's side door and motioned to the passenger's side for Alex. "I mean I know we'll be going O.S. but where exactly?" he said

"O.S. ?"

"Overseas"

"Oh… yea. Well I live in Jasper, Alabama, in the United States."

"I new you were from the U.S. but I've never heard of Jasper, Alabama?" he said curiously.

"Ha. Not many people have." She said while starting to drive. "How did you know I was American?"

"You have an accent." He said while looking out the window.

"I have an accent?" she said laughingly.

"Well to me you do. It's got sort of a twang to it." he replied.

She just laughed and continued driving.

"So do you have any family?" asked Alex.

"Yes, I have a daughter. Her name is Naima but most people just call her Naim. She's your same age. So you'll be going to school with her."

"That ace, I guess. I'll know someone at least." he said. "Do you have a husband?"

Angela paused for a minute. "No he passed away when Naima was three." she said quietly.

"I'm sorry." said Alex.

"It's ok."

Silence filled the car.

_This will be interesting. _Angela thought.A mutant boy with an Australian accent walking around Jasper. _Nice._ "Alright here's the airport." she said as she drove into the parking deck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - planes**

They were boarding flight AA7363 of American airlines. The whole waiting period had been difficult because Alex kept getting startled stares from people passing by. He would just give them that same smirk and nod as they backed away, still staring.

None of this changed as they made their way to the check in desk. The woman taking tickets made it a key point to gasp when she saw him and stare for nearly a minute. He was forced to sit the ticket on the counter before she would take it.

_Stupid Whacker. _He thought as he walked through the tunnel toward the plane. Angela nearly ran to catch up to him while carrying her small overnight bag that had previously been locked in the trunk.

"Well she was rude." she said.

"Well get used to it." he replied. "People tend to be rude when your eyes glow."

Silence filled the air as they found their seats and sat down. Luckily they were on the same row. Alex settled in to the seat near the window and rested his head against the wall. Angela sat down and proceeded to call home, to Naima, on her razor phone.

"Hey. Yea. We're just boarding the plane. We should be home tomorrow. I'll call you when we make the first stop at LAX…." she said to Naima.

Alex tuned her out, closed his eyes, began to relax, and think over the day; to think about anything other than the drone of electricity running throughout the plane begging him to soak it up. When he finally snapped out of it Angela was talking to him.

"You need to buckle up. The flight attendant is fixing to come by." she told him.

He did as she said and snapped the buckles together. He looked around the plane. It was packed. There was a small boy across the aisle from them who had chocolate all over his mouth and proceeded to wipe it on the chair in front of him. There were at least five babies from what he could tell and over half the flight was filled with tourists returning from their getaway. _Great… _he thought. _Should be fun. _

The boy across the aisle was looking at him now. Alex stared back; He then crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out. The kid gasped turned around and was tugging on his mothers blouse and talking extremely fast as he pointed across the aisle towards Alex.

Angela looked over at Alex and saw the face he was making and hit him in the stomach.

"Ouch." he said "What was that for."

"What are you doing? Can we avoid taunting little children through this flight?" she asked.

He laughed. "No worries. Does that mean I can taunt you?"

"Just sit back, look out the window, and enjoy the flight; ok?"

He just looked at her and sat back into his seat. The mother of the little boy was now cleaning his face and cursing quietly to herself. Alex couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey I didn't ask are they going to have and tucker on this flight?" he asked Angela.

"Any wha?"

"…Tucker?"

"What is that?"

"Food you Dill."

"Ok… you going to have to try, to not use all of that slang around me. Remember I'm from America." She replied laughingly. "As a matter of fact you probably don't want to use it at all, considering that's where were going."

"Just answer the question." he said angrily.

"Ok, um yea there will be an in flight meal. Chicken or fish?"

"Chicken. If you've seen the same movies I have you'll know why."

"Ha. Ok yea ill get chicken too."

"The pilot better get chicken." he said laughingly.

Silence came between them but not throughout the cabin. Babies screamed and people yelled at one another. It was mind numbing.

Finally, however the plane began to taxi onto the runway.

The flight attendant came over the intercom, "Please turn off all electrical devices. We will tell you when it is safe to turn them back on." she announced.

Alex laughed._ Well if you want to get technical I'm one big electric device. _

He soon dosed off and woke to Angela handing him his meal. The flight attendant looked at him, clearly confused, and then handed him his drink.

"Thanks heaps." he said taking the drink smiling at her. She gave him the same look as before and moved on to the next aisle.

"I have a question." Said Angela.

"shoot." replied Alex.

"Well you don't have to answer it if you feel like I'm prying but… How do you not let that get to you?"

"Let what get to me?" he said, not looking up, as he stuffed an oversized piece of chicken into his mouth.

"The fact that people stare at you so much." she said. "That would get to me."

"Well here's how I see it. I always try to be nice to people even if they're a complete whacker and a dill. Like that flight attendant. Then you know…. You know that they aren't being rude because they don't like you, as a person, their being rude because their ignorant about mutants."

_Wow _she thought as she looked at him. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. _That's really wise of him. _ She herself was looking at mutants in a different way. She had only spent a couple of hours with him.

When Alex finished with his plate and the flight attendant took it away he began to dose off again. The kid across the aisle was crying now because his mother took his chocolate away. Alex tuned everything out. Sometimes he thought that was his power. He was always able to relax in any situation. _The plane could be on fire _he thought. _and I would still be able to sleep. _He nodded off as the kid screamed.

Angela dosed off as well. She woke up a couple of times throughout the day to see Alex still fast asleep. Then the pilot came on the intercom.

"We will be landing at LAX in little less than an hour. Connecting flights…" He went on.

"Alex." Angela said. "Alex." she repeated. She shook him and a spark of static electricity went from him to her. "Damn it." she cursed to herself.

"Sorry mate." said Alex as he woke wearily. Static electricity made his shirt suction to his chest. He pulled his shirt away from his body to get rid off the cling. It was so strong Angela could hear the sparks as the shirt came away from his body.

"Its ok I guess." she said still looking at his shirt. "We'll be landing in a little less than an hour I thought I should wake you."

"Thanks." he said. "What time is it?"

"Its 10:08 pm." she replied. "We have a connecting flight to Houston, Texas and then we have another flight to Birmingham, Alabama. Then we have an hour drive to Jasper." she replied.

"Well Damn I slept all through the avro."

"Yea… well we can't stop at a hotel until we land in Birmingham since our flight times are so close together. Is that alright?"

"You think you could have drummed me in about that earlier?" he said annoyed. "Yea its fine but how much longer is it?"

"Only about 4 more hours to fly and 2 hours wait at the airports. So all in all we have six more hours we're looking at."

"Ripper… well I'm sleeping till we get to Birmingham."

"That's ok. Ill probably sleep most of the way as well." she said as she yawned.

The flight attendant came past. "Do you need anything? Were landing in 30 minutes." she said to Angela. Occasionally glancing at Alex.

"No were, fine." she replied.

"Can I ask you something." said the attendant.

Angela looked at her. "Sure anything." she said. Alex tuned in and looked at the girl, anticipating the question.

"He's a mutant. Isn't he?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

She ignored her question and replaced it with her own. "Why are you traveling with him? Did you know that a mutant killed 3 people during a bank robbery last week in North Carolina?"

"I'm aware of that and I would appreciate it if you would leave us alone." she replied hatefully.

"I'm just warning you ma'am, their all killers. You deserve to know." she said. Alex was looking at her somberly. He had dealt with people like her before but he knew Angela hadn't. The flight attendant wasn't going to leave unless Alex said something or Angela agreed to leave him.

_"_Listen mate, we're fine. Got it? Good. Now leave her alone before I make you." said Alex as he looked at her with his electric stare.

She looked at Angela, looked at Alex, and kept moving through the aisle.

"I'm …"

"I told you how people are. Ok? It's fine. Drop it." he said to Angela as he looked out the window.

Angela looked at him and then she looked throughout the rest of the plane.

_Just because its how people are doesn't mean I'm ok with it. _He thought. _Why can't they just look past my eyes?_ He was to the point of tears but he held them back nicely. He was thinking about his old family. How life used to be.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

They landed in Birmingham at 5:00 am after taking the red eye out of Houston. Angela was exhausted after flying in total nearly 40 hours in the past two days. Alex, however, was wide awake. Angela called as soon as they landed and booked a room with the nearest hotel; a Best Western. They drove to the hotel room in silence and checked in.

Angela stumbled into the room and threw her bag beside the nearest bed; while Alex walked in, grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, and then relaxed on the farthest bed from the door. Angela went into the bathroom changed and got ready for bed. Then she went back into the main room

"Turn it off." she said to Alex.

"But I …"

"Turn It OFF." she said anger in her voice.

"Ok, ok. I'm turning it off." he replied.

When he hit the power the room went black except for the faint glow of his eyes. Angela felt her way to the bed and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Alex woke to the annoying ring of Angela's cell phone. It was the band Nickleback's song "Far Away" and it played one part over and over again. _Bloody hell, _thought Alex_ Ill definitely have to change that._

"Angela!" Alex yelled.

"…What." she groaned over the ring.

"Your phone's ringing."

"I know."

"Answer it, damn it!" he said annoyed "Or Ill turn it off myself."

"Ok." she said as she lifted her and from the bed and grabbed the phone off of the bedside table.

"Hello?" she said wearily. "Oh hey Naima. Yea you woke us up. Well be on our way in about an hour……" she went on.

Alex looked at the time it was 10:00 am. They had been asleep for only five hours. _Naima needs to get a life. _He thought. _You think she could've let us sleep in._

"Ok bye. I love you too." click. Angela sat the phone back down and swung her feet onto the side of the bed. She had on pink silk pajamas and her hair was down, for a change. It made her look older in a way.

Alex sat up, he was still in the cloths he had on the day before.

"Will I have any other clothes than these when I get to your house?" he asked

"Yes, I told Naima to pick you out some clothes from American eagle."

"Well, thank you." he said unused to the generosity.

"It's no problem. Naima was excited too. She's never shopped for a guy before."

_Interesting… So I'll end up in a pink plaid shirt and knickers. _"Are you sure she knows what to buy?"

"Yea she has bought for her 12 year old cousin before just not for anyone her own age." said Angela as she got up and walked toward the bathroom.

_Ok it's worse Ill end up with a T-shirt that says I love power rangers and pants that flood. Beauty. _

They left the hotel and headed home but only after Alex cleaned out the free continental breakfast in the lobby. They had driven for 45 minutes and were only minutes from Angela's house in the Heatherwood neighborhood.

"So, Alex, how do you like America?"

"The terrain's a bit different than what I'm used too, but it's pretty nice." He said smiling at Angela.

"That's good." She said as she pulled into the neighborhood. "We're almost there. It's that cul-de-sac right there." She pointed to the sign that said _Beaver run_.

_Well that's an interesting name. _Thought Alex_. Are there a lot of beavers here or did the builder just have a soft spot for them?_

They drove down the street. The Houses that lined the street hid behind trees and were fairly close together.

"This is it." said Angela as she pulled into the last house on the right.

The two story brick house was surrounded with trees and had a long drive way. When they got to the garage Alex could see the pool in the backyard. _Sweet_ he thought. Angela parked the silver Volvo outside the garage door and motioned for Alex to get out as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

They walked through the garage and to the back door. Angela unlocked the door and let Alex open it and walk in first.

Just as he did this, a massive black Great Dane ran up and jumped on him. Alex screamed and accidentally gave the dog a shock. It whimpered and ran to hide behind the girl who was standing in the middle of the living room.

"...I'm sorry. He scared me. I actually like dogs." said Alex as he walked a little farther into the room. He looked at Naima carefully. She had wavy dark brown hair similar to Angela's except hers flowed freely past her shoulders. She was wearing a dark blue V-kneck sweater with a green undershirt. Her jeans were light with large holes in the knees and she was wearing Wallabies shoes.

"Ha. Its ok." said Naima as she walked towards her mother. "He likes to jump on people…. a lot." She looked him over. He had dark brown hair _and he was tan! _She thought. His hair was messy but it suited him well and his eyes glowed an electric blue. It was a beautiful reminder of what he was. He had a typical Aussie accent which actually made him more appealing. She soon dismissed the idea She already had a boyfriend and plus her mom would never let it happen. _That doesn't mean I can't still look. _She thought.

"You must be Naima." said Alex pronouncing her name carefully. _She's actually quite beautiful._ He thought. He quickly dismissed the idea as a pang of reality hit him. They're from two different worlds. _It would never happen. _He reminded himself.

"Yea hi. You must be Alex." she said as walked up to him and held out her hand.

"Yea." he said embracing her hand in a shake and giving her his classic smile.

"Naima why don't you show Alex around the house." said Angela as she headed up the stairs toward her room.

"Sure." she said. "Come on."

Alex followed her they walked into the living room and through an archway into the kitchen.

"This is the kitchen." she said as she continued walking.

She turned left down a hallway with three doors. Two on one side and one on the other. She opened the first door to the right. I was a deep purple room with music posters plastering the wall.

"This is my room." she said. "That's also the only computer besides my mom's laptop. So if you need it just ask."

"Thanks." he said still staring at her room.

"Mkay and this door." she said continuing down the hallway. "Is the bathroom that well be sharing. So clean up after yourself or ill make you go outside."

"Ha. Ok. I will. No worries mate." he said. _This will be different._ He thought.

"And over here…. Is your room." She said walking to the other side of the hall and opening the door.

"My room?"

"Yep." she said with a smile.

Alex walked to the door slowly and pushed it open carefully.

The room was a light blue with two windows on the adjacent wall. There was a darkly stained dresser between them. On the farthest wall from the door there're was a full sized bed with a black feather comforter on it. Across from the bed there was a middle sized TV sitting on a desk with a rolling chair beside it.

Alex couldn't help but smile. It was great. His own room?! He hadn't had a room to himself in years."This is mine!?" he asked

"Well yea. It used to be the guest bedroom but yea. Now its yours." she replied. "Do you like it?"

"You know what Sheila I don't think you have any idea how much I like this room." he said laughingly. "Its great, thanks."

"No problem. Do you wanna see the game room?" she asked.

"There's a game room?"

"Yea it's in the basement."

"Show me the way." he said excitedly.

She left the hallway and they went back towards the stairs. Past them there was a door which led down to the basement. They went down. The room was quite large. There was a couch in the middle and a flat screen plasma TV in front of it. Beside the TV there was pretty much every up to date gaming system known to man; A Play station 3, X-box 360, and a wii. There was a large stereo system on the farthest wall. _I think ill live down here_ decided Alex.

"This is pretty nice." he said.

"Yea I love it down here but lately I've been so busy with school that I haven't gotten to come down here much."

_School._ He had almost forgotten.

"What is your school like?" he asked as he walked over to the black couch and plopped down.

"Walker's nothing special. I can promise you that. But its fun I guess. Probably only because all my friends are there." she said as she sat down beside him.

"Do you think Ill be able to survive?" he asked.

"I think… that people will adjust. I know that my friends will be ok with it; my boyfriend not so much but Ill smack some sense into him." She laughed.

"Oh... Well we'll just see what happens. Won't we." _I should've known there would be a boyfriend. _he thought.

Alex turned the TV on without moving a muscle and even began changing channels.

"What the Crap!" screamed Naima.

He stopped flipping channels and stared at her. "What?"

"What wha….. Are you doing that?"

"Oh yea I'm sorry did it scare you?" he laughed.

"Yea!" she said. "Give me a warning next time… I'm fine now."

"Ok good." He smiled.

"That's really weird." she laughed as Alex continued changing channels.

"Eh, I'm used to it. At first I was like. Ahhh, Wooahh! But yea now its just natural." he said, never looking away from the screen.

Naima just looked at him, still amazed. _So not fair._ She thought.

Angela walked partly down the stairs.

"Pizza for lunch?" she asked

"Sure." said Naima.

"What about you Alex. Is that ok with you?" she asked.

Alex looked up quickly. "Oh… well it's not even in the avro yet. I mean we could have pizza for dinner."

"Well yea. That's still leaves the question of what you guys want for lunch." she replied

"Well we could get something small from Maccas or just eat some vegemite toast if you don't feel like going anywhere."

Naima and Angela stared at him for a moment. Alex looked at them both.

"What?" said Alex.

"We don't understand the words that are coming out of your mouth." said Naima laughingly. "What is Maccas and what is Vegemite?"

"Crikey. You bloody Seppos really don't speak _any_ slang do you?"

"What did you call us?" asked Angela who was still standing on the stairs.

"I called you American. And Maccas is just McDonalds. And Vegemite is well I don't know how to explain it but it tastes good on toast with a little butter." explained Alex, shocked at their lack of Aussie knowledge. "So…. You don't have any vegemite?"

"Ha. Nope. You left that down under kiddo." said Naima.

"That's gay." he said.

"Ok…. Well ill just go to Maccas then." said Angela clearly holding back laughs. Alex glared at her. "Umm Naima did you have any homework you were supposed to do over the weekend?"

"No." She said lying as she stared back at the TV.

"Yea ok… sure." said Angela. "Alex I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Do you want me to register you to school tomorrow and you have your first day then or do you want me to wait a day and let you settle in."

_Damn… school. _"Err. I guess tomorrow. To get the first day over with." he replied. "You're sure?" she said curiously. "You don't want a day off?"

"Nah Ill be fine." he said. "I just wanna get it over with. The first days always the hardest."

"Alright then I just needed to know. You need to be up a 6:30 then so you have time to get ready in the morning." said Angela

"No worries mate."

Angela went back up the stairs. A few minutes later Alex and Naima heard her pull out of the drive-way and head off to get the food.

"So. Alex. Do you have any family back in Australia?" asked Naima.

Alex's heart froze. "No." he replied quietly. _Nosey bastard. _

_"_oh." said Naima. Alex got up from the couch. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna test out the TV in my room." He said not looking at her as he walked up the stairs.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry. It's just…"

But Alex was already gone. Naima sat there alone on the couch.

Alex went into his room and shut the door. He lay on his bed for the first time and started reminiscing. In that moment he was five again sitting in the funeral home, his feet dangled from the chair. Grown-ups around him tried to give him comfort but he just sat there in silence. What else could he do? His whole world had just been shattered.

They said a drunk driver had hit them but none of that mattered. They were gone. Everyone; his mother his father and his baby sister. He was alone.

Alex snapped back to reality when Naima knocked on the door. "Are you ok?" she yelled.

"Yea. I'm fine." he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea I'm sure." he said. He could hear the dog panting on the other side of the door.

"If your so sure then open the door." she said stubbornly.

_Like I said earlier this Sheila needs a life. _Thought Alex. He proceeded to open the door without moving. It creaked open and the dog pushed it open the rest of the way. It proceeded to jump up on the bed beside Alex.

"Well hey little bugger. Sorry bought earlier mate." He said patting the dog on the head.

"I didn't mean to pry. I just thought it was a good conversation starter." said Naima innocently.

"I said I was fine mate. Now go do your homework." he replied.

Naima stood there for a moment and then sat on the bed. "You can talk to me you know." she said. Alex just looked at her. "I mean I know it's going to be hard for you to fit in here and I want to let you know that you can talk to me about anything."

"Ok." he said looking back at the dog; pretty much ignoring her.

"Her names Midnight." she said.

_I wonder why._ He thought as he stroked her black fur.

Naima took the hint and got up to leave. She stopped in the doorway. "My boyfriend, Nathan, is coming over at two. You can meet him then." she said smiling.

Alex, however, did not smile. "Great." he said sarcastically.

Naima closed the door and left him alone with Midnight. He soon dosed off to the sound of her panting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Midnight gave Alex a big sloppy kiss on the face as a wake up call.

"Ah!" screamed Alex as he wiped his face with the covers. "Bloody oath. I love you too. Geez"

It had been nearly two hours since he fell asleep. _Why didn't they wake me? _He thought. He was starving now. He got up and went into the kitchen where Angela was. The dog followed. Angela was pouring herself a glass of tea.

"Good morning." she said, "Your foods on the table. It's probably cold by now."

That wasn't a problem for him. He had a built in microwave. "Why didn't you guys wake me up?" he said as he wiped his face and headed to the table. He grabbed a plate along the way.

"Naima told me you were upset. And to leave you alone." she replied.

"I told her I was fine." he said as he put the chicken nuggets and fries onto the plate. The plate glowed for a few seconds until the chicken was steaming. Alex then put the plate down and plopped a nugget in his mouth.

"That's useful", said Angela.

Alex continued eating.

"Did you find your clothes?" asked Angela.

"I haven't looked for them."

"There in your closet whenever you're ready for them." she replied

"Where's Naima?" he asked stuffing a fry in his mouth.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot. She wanted you to meet Nathan." she said.

It was two o'clock Alex had almost forgotten.

"Naim!" called Angela. "He's awake now."

It took a few minutes but Naima and Nathan came into the kitchen from her bedroom. She was dragging him by his hand. He looked unenthused.

"Alex. This is Nathan" she said smiling as she pushed Nathan forward.

"G'day mate", said Alex as he held out his hand. Nathan was almost a foot taller than Alex and at least three times buffer. His blond hair was cropped above his ears in the normal guy hair style.

"Hi." said Nathan. Looking at him funny._ Does this little bastard really think I'm going to shake his grubby little hand? _Thought Nathan.

Alex seemed to read his mind. He lowered his hand and the two of them glared at each other. _Stupid whacker. _ Thought Alex._ I didn't want to touch your STD infested self anyways._ Alex was balling his hands up into fists now as Nathan glared back. A small spark went through Alex's hair and the dog started growling; but not at Alex, at Nathan. Angela stepped in.

"Okay. Alex come with me." said Angela. "Naima why don't you take Nathan back to your room."

Naima did as she said. She tugged on Nathan's black coat. "Come on." she said somberly. She looked at Alex warily. He grimaced back. She wasn't expecting that out of him. She had never seen that side to him. _The mutant side._ She thought.

"Come on Alex." said Angela. Careful not to touch him she started walking towards his room. He followed as Midnight walked behind him.

Angela went into his room and told him to sit down on the bed. He did.

"Alex."

He turned his head away and stared at the bed's headboard.

"You've had a long day. Wouldn't you say?"

"I'd say that's a fair dinkum mate." he replied. "I still had a right to get mad though."

"What makes you think that?"

His head snapped around and he locked her in an icy stare. "What makes me think that? That stupid whacker of a boyfriend you daughter has, refused to shake my hand. Now lemme see. Why would he do that? Oh yea because I am what I am." He said hatefully.

"Ok, you had a right but you need to control you anger."

"That was me controlling my anger. Believe me Sheila you don't want to see me when I'm not." He said plainly his eyes burning at her from the side.

Angela got up to leave. Midnight took her place beside Alex.

"I think she has a soft spot for you." said Angela as she walked out the door.

Alex turned to Midnight. She was staring at him panting with her tongue out. "That makes one of you guys." He said as he pet her behind the ear.

Alex waited for Nathan to leave. He passed the time by listening to their conversation. It was quite intriguing. When he finally left they ate dinner in silence and Alex went back to his room with Midnight trailing him every step of the way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Dreams**

Alex always had the same dream every night. It would replay over and over about when they first told him his parents had died. How is a five year old supposed to comprehend that? In his dream after being told that images would flash of all the homes he had gone through. All of the people who had taken care of him. Then the last home. The one that forced him to leave stayed frozen in his mind. "You can't stay here anymore." they would say. "But I thought you loved me" he would plead. They simply answered "We did."

Alex woke up in the same spot every night. His eyes jolted open. As he composed himself he pulled his legs to his chest and propped his head on his knees and stared into the blackness. He could make the room visible if he wanted but he liked the world better this way; dark. He looked over at the LCD lit screen of the clock. It read 4:37 pm. He was supposed to wake up in another hour and 53 minutes. He sat there enjoying the silence. Then he heard something coming from Naima's room. It sounded like… crying? Alex debated for a moment whether or not to see if she was ok. He decided to at least see if she was alright.

He got up and headed out the door. As he walked through the hallway the silence was interrupted by quiet sobs. He stopped in front of her door and wondered if he should knock. He decided too. He heard her choke back tears, sniffle, and wipe her face. Then she opened the door.

Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen as she looked into his completely perfect shining eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

"Yea." she said plainly as she wiped her face. "I'm not used to someone else being down here. I didn't realize I was being loud."

"No, you weren't being loud. It's just I have good hearing." he laughed quietly. He looked at her thoughtfully.

"So I didn't wake you?"

"No. I was already awake."

Naima turned and looked at her clock. "It's 4:40 Am." she said. "Why were you awake?"

Alex attempted to come up with a quick lie. "I… Uh." he looked back at his room wishing he never came out.

"Did you have a nightmare?" she joked at him.

Alex didn't laugh. "Well I'm going back to my room if you're ok."

"Yea I'll be fine." she said.

"Ok, see you in an hour and forty minutes." he laughed.

She giggled slightly still confused about why he was even awake, and returned to her room._ He had a nightmare? Then why didn't he just say that? Was it that bad?_ Those questions filled her head as she tried to fall back asleep.

Alex, however, went back to his room and sat with his legs to his chest and his head propped on his knees. The dog had obviously followed him back and was lying in front of him staring up at his face.

"So midnight what do you want to do for an hour and a half?" He asked. She sat up and he began petting her on the head. "We could play cards or monopoly." He laughed.

He decided to get ready for school. He went to his closet and opened the doors. It was filled with clothes. He had expected a few things but they went all out. He picked a pair of jeans that were faded out. He picked a black button up long sleeve shirt and found a black tie hidden in the back. _Sweet._ He thought as he put it on after his shower. It fit perfectly which surprised him.

It was 6:30 now he could hear Naima start to get ready. He got up and went into the kitchen. Angela was already there with her cup of coffee.

"Well." she said surprised. "What time did you get up?"

"4:30" he said "I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Oh well, you look great. You're a little morning person aren't you?"

He smiled slightly as he sat down at the table. "Yea I guess."

"What do you want to eat this morning?" she asked.

_Vegemite _he thought. "Well… what do you have?"

"There's toast, cereal, waffles, and really anything."

_Except Vegemite_. He thought hatefully. "I'll just take cereal."

"Fruit loops or Captain Crunch?"

"Uh…Fruit loops… I guess." He said not really wanting either.

"Alright sit tight Ill pour you a bowl."

Alex watched her walk to the cupboard and pull out the colorful box. Angela had already changed from her pajamas and was now wearing her gray sweats and a pink T-shirt. Her hair was back in yet another ponytail. When she finished pouring the cereal and milk and handed Alex the bowl with a spoon.

"Thanks heaps." He said taking the bowl and digging in.

Naima came into the kitchen a while later with her backpack slung onto one shoulder and her purse in the other hand. She poured her cereal and milk and sat across from Alex.

He glanced up from his bowl. At that moment so did Naima. Her eyes were still bloodshot. She quickly averted her glare back to the fruit loops.

"Ok guys we need to be going." said Angela as she picked up her car keys from the counter.

The all headed through the storage room to Angela's car. Alex stopped and stared for a moment. Angela wasn't getting in on the driver's side of the car. Naima was.

_Shit._ _We're all going to die._

He got into the back seat anyways and buckled up. She backed up and began driving. _She's not bad._ He thought. He began to relax then.

Angela began explaining what he would need to do when he got to school.

"All you have to do is go to the front office, which Naim will show you, and you ask for your schedule." she explained.

"I think I can handle that." replied Alex.

It became quiet again the only sound being the car's engine revving.

They finally pulled up to the school. Like Naima had said earlier it was nothing special. There was the main school building which had a courtyard in the middle. Then there was a gym and band room which was only connected to the school by a sidewalk and awnings. They pulled into a parking spot in front of the band room and headed towards the gap between the school and the band room. Then they turned right, towards the school.

"Ok we have to go to the office which is kind of on the other side of the school." She laughed.

"That's ok." He said.

They went through freshman hall and finally made their way to the office.

"Ok here." she grumbled. "I have to go to my advisory. Will you be ok on your own?"

"Ill be fine." He replied

She looked at him carefully. "Ok well see ya." she said as she walked away.

Alex walked into the office and went to the counter.

There was only one lady at one of the several desks behind the counter. She had curly hair down to her shoulders. It was partly gray and it was apparent she dyed it. She wore glasses with a strap that prevented her from losing them and she was focusing extremely too hard on what she was typing.

"Yes?" she called to him as she continued to stare at her computer.

"Uh… I need my schedule." He said unsure.

She looked up at him from underneath her glasses. Then her expression changed from one of annoyance to the normal, unoriginal, shocked stare.

"…Your… name?" she asked.

"Alex."

"Alex? Alex what? I need your full name."

_Does Angela know my last name? How did she find that out? Maybe she put me under her last name. She could've asked the guards back in Australia. Then again she's a mutant researcher. _"Umm. It's Alex… Jada Kane" he replied.

"Ok hang on just a minute." She said as she typed on her outdated computer. "Okay, here we go. Let me print off your schedule. Your… guardian called yesterday, but you'll need to take these home and have her sign them." She stood up and handed him a packet of papers.

The old printer was having trouble with his schedule. It took it nearly three minutes to spit it out. The bell rang for the end of advisory and Alex could hear students flood the hall. The lady handed him the paper.

"Just go to your first block. I'll mark you as here so don't worry about it."

"Ok thank you. Um where is my first class?" He asked as he looked at the paper.

"Who is it with?"

"Coach McCollum; History?"

"Go out this door and go down the first hallway you come to. Then it's the second room on your left." She said as she headed back to her chair.

"Thanks." he said heading to the door.

As soon as Alex opened the door he came face to face with a short wide eyed girl. She came up to about his shoulder and her fiery red hair was up in a smooth pony tail. Her peppiness shocked him. She wasn't surprised by his eyes at all, and Alex sensed something odd about her.

"G'day mate." said Alex.

"Hi Alex." she said. Any doubts she had faded away.

Alex stared at her. "How do you know my name?"

"I have my ways." She said smiling at him.

As, if reading his thoughts she began walking towards his classroom. _Does she have my same class? _He wondered.

"My next class is with coach McCollum. Where is yours?" She said, answering his thoughts.

Alex stopped when they turned on the new hall. _She's reading my fucking thoughts?!_

"Mine's with… Mrs…" He glanced at his sheet. "Mrs. Mego." he lied

Cassandra stopped and looked back at him. "What?!"

_Just one more._ He thought._ She's such a bloody whacker. I hope she…_

"Hey!" she said angrily. "You barely know me."

"I knew it!!!" screamed Alex pointing at her.

"Come on we're going to be late."

"No we won't I'm a new student. You were showing me to my class." He said to her.

"Fine then."

Alex was next to her in a matter of seconds. "So, is that all you can do?"

"Yes." she stated. "So you're staying with Naima?"

"Yea."

"Pshht"

"What about her?"

She ignored him. "You have a thing for her?"

"That's rude to read my thoughts without my permission now isn't it?" He said getting his face as close as he could to hers.

""Don't play with me." She said looking dead on into his eyes. Unafraid.

_Stupid. You should be afraid._

"Well. I refuse to let you mess with me like you do with everyone else."

"I don't do that to everyone." He said straightening up again.

"Yes. You do. It's the way you cope with people."

"Still. I don't do it to everyone."

"Ugh. Lets just go to class." She said turning on her heel towards the door.

Alex followed reluctantly. As she opened the door Coach McCollum looked at the two of them, doing a double take on Alex. Whispers erupted from the class. Alex chose to block them out.

"Who's this?" said Coach McCollum.

"This is Alex Kane. He's your new student." She said happily; Leaning forward on her toes then rocking back. Alex grimaced at his last name. He hated it.

"Oh…thank you for showing him to the class. Now take your seat."

Cassandra gave him a sideway glare and did as he said.

"Hi, Alex." said Coach McCollum. He was a pretty small guy with short dark brown hair. He was wearing Kaki pants with a button-up striped shirt.

"G'day." Replied Alex. The entire class let out a simultaneous laugh.

"You from Australia?"

"Yes sir." Said Alex as he looked around the room confused.

"Well isn't that neat." He said. "Well you can take a seat behind Cassie then." He said pointing over to the back corner. They were both separated from the rest of the class by a row of empty chairs. His eyes burned with hate. He took his seat, however, with no complaints. _Discriminating bastard._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The entire class went by slowly. Cassandra kept turning around to monologue Alex's thoughts. It was all a game to her and she intended to keep it going. She had a new toy and was unprepared to let it out of her sites. Unluckily for Alex she was in three out of four of his classes._ Ughh. _

The bell finally rang, however, and Alex made his way quickly to the door. Cassandra followed close behind. It was break now and everyone was buying snacks and drinks before their next class. Alex found his locker and tried out the combination. He got it on the first try. He shut it and leaned up against the wall of lockers. Cassandra stood in front of him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." she replied.

He looked away from her. She was starting to get to him. At the end of the hall he saw Naima and _Nathan_. They were hugging with her arms around his neck and his hands on her waist. It was enraging. A spark flew from his hair.

"Now, now. Lets calm down" said Cassandra.

"Oh shut up." said Alex as his head snapped around to meet her strong glare.

The bell rang, finally. Alex walked away from her.

"This is where we say good bye." Said Alex. " I have P.E."

"Alright see you in third." She called while turning into a room.

_Thank the lord._ He thought. He made his way down the hall he had come that morning and went around the band room and into the foyer in front of the gym. He went down a flight of huge concrete stairs while following a group of muscular guys.

He went into the gym and looked for the coach. He was on the far side of the gym waiting for his class. He had the classic coach's uniform with a whistle around his neck, jog pants, and a white polo shirt. He straightened his baseball cap as Alex came up to him.

"Uh, sir?" said Alex

The coach looked at him strangely. "…Yes?"

"I'm your new student." Stated Alex.

"Oh. You need a uniform then. Follow me." He said walking past Alex and heading back the way he had come. Alex followed as the coach headed towards his office.

Alex was given black basketball shorts and a gray shirt that said Walker High school. The coach also assigned him a gym locker.

Alex headed towards the boys locker room to change. He opened the door and ran smack dab into Nathan.

"Sorry." Said Alex sliding by Nathan.

"You better be." Said Nathan as he stalked away. _Fucking mutants._

After Alex changed he headed out to the gym. The coach was giving a free day because he was leaving. The substitute came in, in only a matter of minutes and relaxed on the bleachers.

Alex sat against the wall behind the basketball goal. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Then he heard footsteps approaching. He snapped his eyes open. It was Nathan and his lackeys. He was holding a basketball.

"What." Said Alex as he stood up. He attempted to stand tall but they all seemed to be unusually massive.

"They need another player." Said Nathan as he pointed to a group of guys standing on the far side of the gym.

"Your point?"

Nathan lowered his glare. "Will you play with them?" He asked through his teeth.

"Against you? Hell yea." Said Alex. He ran up and hit the ball from Nathan's hand so fast he couldn't react. Alex dribbled it to the free throw line and took a shot. Swish; Nothing but net.

Nathan's friends watched in awe but Nathan was enraged.

"Lets go." Said Alex smiling happily.

Alex's team came up to him and greeted him. There was Andrew, Dalton, and Mark. After the shot he had just made, they all were excited for him to be on their team.

"Let me get Nathan." Said Alex.

"Sure." Said Dalton.

They set it up and checked the ball. Nathan's team had it first. Alex waited for him to cross the line and then he got right on him. Alex stole the ball from Nathan in mid dribble and ran down the court to make a lay-up.

"That's not fair." Screamed Nathan as he stormed after Alex. He wasn't slowing down as he came up to Alex.

Nathan's breathe was hot in his face. "What's not fair? The fact a mutant beat you?"

"You little bastard. You can't use your powers!"

"I didn't! Now back off!" Said Alex as a spark flew from his hands. They continued to glow.

"Bullshit." Said Nathan as he Pushed Alex backwards.

Alex steadied himself and lowered into a crouch; like an animal ready to pounce. He glared at Nathan from underneath his hair with his electric eyes._ Just one shock. That's all it will take. I could do it now and it would all be over._ He thought to himself.

Nathan glared at him his fists clenched tight. _Just one good hit is all I need._ He thought. He took a step forward and Alex took his chance.

With a crushing blow Nathan was thrown backwards and hit the bleachers with crash. Alex had done him a favor. Instead of a shock he simply hit him with a force field.

Alex straightened up and watched Nathan. Everyone was crowding around Nathan now and Alex was growing his own audience.

The substitute ran to Nathan and helped him up. Nathan pointed over at Alex and the sub motioned for him to come over. He did.

"We're going to the office." He said dragging Nathan behind him as the walked towards the stares. "And I don't want any funny business out of you either." He said to Alex.

Alex just smiled and followed them quietly. _Revenge is sweet._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Alex was suspended for the day, considering it was his first offense and it was only his first day. Nathan was sent back to class. Angela came and picked him up early. Her face was clearly disappointed. They drove home in silence.

Alex propped his head on the cold glass of the car window and tried to relax. It was short lived.

"What were you thinking?!" Challenged Angela.

"Well…"

"I mean he could have broken something! He could press charges, Alex! Your lucky Naima can talk him out of it or you would be in a whole world of trouble."

_Whatever._ He thought. "Ok. I'm sorry." He grumbled.

"Sometimes that's not enough." She sighed.

They finally arrive back at the house and Alex heads back to his room. He lets Midnight in and shuts the door.

Angela stands alone in the kitchen staring at her keys on the counter. _He couldn't even last a day. What am I going to do?_ She thought to herself.

There was a knock on the front door. _Who could that be?_ She went and opened the door.

"Hi." Said Cassandra as she stood on the front porch, rocking on her heels.

"Oh. Hi, Cassie." Said Angela.

"I'm here to see Alex." Said Cassie.

Angela stared at her. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I checked out today." She replied.

Meanwhile Alex could hear the conversation going on. He knew Cassie was reading his thoughts at the moment. He got up and went into the living room and peeked out over Angela's shoulder, at Cassie.

"Hey." Said Alex. Angela jumped.

"Alex! Oh my God. I didn't hear you come in here." Said Angela. She turned back to Cassie. "Uh…Ok come in. If you guys go in the basement or his room you can't shut the door. That's the rule."

"Ok Angela." Said Alex as he walked back towards his room. Cassie skipped into the house and followed him.

Alex went into his room and fell back onto his bed and stared at midnight; who was staring at the door. Midnight barked as Cassie turned into his room. Cassie stopped in the doorway. Midnight continued to bark and took a few steps forward.

"Hey!" Said Alex. Midnight looked back then continued barking. He took her by the collar and drug her out of his room, and locked her in Naima's room.

When he came back Cassie was looking through his clothes.

"Excuse you?" said Alex.

"Yes?" She called still going through them. She read his thoughts. "I'm seeing what Naima picked out for you." She stated.

"Oh." _That's not weird at all. _"Well. What do you want to do besides go through me clothes?"

"I don't know." She said as she turned and hopped onto his bed. " We can talk."

Alex rolled his eyes. He went over and lay on the bed beside her. She sat up crossed her legs and stared at him with her insane deep brown eyes. He looked up at her.

"What?" Asked Alex.

"You're very interesting." She replied.

"I'm interesting? I'm not the one going through other people's clothes without asking. Now am I?" He replied.

"I'm just saying."

"What's so interesting about me?" He asked closing his eyes.

"Well. Everything." She said tilting her head.

He opened his eyes and sat up. He crossed his legs Indian style and shook the hair from his face. "Lets be specific."

"I don't think you want me to tell you. I'm afraid it'll hurt you."

Alex thought for a minute. _Hurt me? …She can read thoughts. She probably knows more about me than I know about myself._

"Yea." Said Cassie, answering his thoughts.

"Just tell me then." He said quietly.

"Ughh. Okay." There was a moment of silence. "Well. The fact that you lost everything…."

Alex looked up. Images started flashing in his head.

"And yet, you were still able to make it. It just seems like life handed you too much to handle but you proved it wrong." She said. She closed her eyes trying to block out the images in Alex's mind.

Alex looked up at her from underneath his hair. He hardly heard a word she said. He saw that she was trying to block his thoughts. "I'm sorry." He said.

"It's ok." She said opening her eyes. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It's not your fault." He said while looking around the room.

Cassie watched him. It was so tempting to her. She had to do it.

Before Alex could react, Cassie had his face in a soft embrace and his lips touched hers. At first he fought it but that only lasted a second. He soon gave in and kissed her back while his hands played with her hair.

Cassie could feel the electricity pumping through her. She didn't know if it was from him or from her own Adrenaline. She loved it.

Then Alex heard Angela's footsteps coming down the hall. His eyes widened and he pulled Cassie's face away from his. He leaped off the bed and stood by the TV.

Angela walked in and stared incredulously at them both. "What are you doing, Alex?" Asked Angela.

"Oh. Me? Nothing I was just…"His voice faded away.

"Yea… Ok. Do you want anything for lunch?"

"No I'm fine." He said quickly.

"What about you Cassie?"

_You don't want anything._ Thought Alex as he glared at her.

"I… I'm fine." said Cassie as she looked at him from the side.

Angela took another glance at the two of them. "Ok. Well I'm going to get me something. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. So behave yourself." She said locking her gaze on Alex then walking away.

Alex waited for the reassuring click of the front door closing. He let out a sigh and went back over to Cassie.

She smiled and laughed. "That was fun."

"Yea.." He replied.

Cassie frowned. " I know you like Naima."

"Listen I …"

"But I also know your aware that it will never happen."

"Uh… yea. So that's what I was saying. I like you too."

"Well, lets not jump into things. I mean I don't have to read your mind to know that you do that quite often." She laughed.

"What do you mean?" He said.

"Well you moved from Australia to America with a stranger for one."

"Ha. Good point." He laughed as he smiled at her." But what If I _want _to jump into things." He said his face getting ever closer to hers.

Cassie could feel his breathe on her face. "Then, lets jump together." She said as she leaned in and met his waiting lips.

"Well, Well, Well." Said a voice coming from the doorway.

Alex and Cassandra pulled away from each other and jumped onto opposite sides of the bed. Their eyes still wide with shock, they turned to face the stranger. Cassandra knew her but Alex had never seen her before. She was average height with short blonde hair that was cropped at an angle; the shortest part being in the back and the longest in the front. She was wearing a black T-shirt that said WHS in big bold white letters across her chest. She had on blue jeans and flip flops that contrasted the Louis Vuitton handbag she carried around her shoulder.

"Hey Naima." She called. "Looks like your mutant has found a lover."

Naima stopped what she was doing in the kitchen and looked towards her friend with curiosity. "What?" she asked as she made her way to his doorway."

"Well. Look for yourself." she said pointing at the two of them. "They were sucking face when I came in here."

Naima looked at Alex then at Cassie. Her mouth fell open in shock. _Cassie._ She thought. She clenched her jaw shut and glared. She could name a few reasons why she hated this girl and she just added another to her list.

"Why…" She breathed deeply. "Why is she here?" asked Naima.

"Well, she checked out and… Hey, wait. Why are you here?" Said Alex.

"There was a tornado warning. Didn't you notice the clouds outside?" She asked annoyed.

No he hadn't. He had completely over looked them. _I have better things to worry about besides clouds. _He thought, comforting himself.

"So I rode home with Paige." Said Naima quickly. "Now back to you. Why is she here." She pronounced every word carefully as if to make sure they hit his ears just right.

"She's here because she wants to be." He said as he shifted his stance into a more protective one. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. There is. She's a lying little bitch. She told me that Nathan was cheating on me so we would break up; so then she could have her go at him." explained Naima.

Alex looked at Cassie; waiting for her side.

"That's not what happened and you know it." Said Cassandra and she jabbed a finger towards Naima. Cassie walked around the bed and stopped in front of Naima. She pulled her chin up and her shoulders back, trying to be as tall as possible. "I told you he was cheating, Naima, because he was! With Macy Sox. I would never want to date a guy like him anyways." She said, cringing.

"That's a lie." Said Naima as she got in Cassandra's face. Cassandra never flinched. "Nathan would never cheat on me! He said that you kept flirting with him and you were just trying to tear us apart."

"Why would I want to do that? Just trust me Naima I wasn't lying. Remember I can read peoples thoughts." said Cassie as she looked at Naima sincerely.

Naima took a step back from Cassie. "Nathan wouldn't cheat. I know that for a fact."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." said Cassie.

"Oh. Shut up you lying whore." said Naima.

"Hey." Alex interrupted in a commanding voice. "You two need to chill. Plus I just heard Angela come in the front door."

Naima turned from him sharply and stalked away. Paige followed close behind. She went into her room and locked the door. Angela called after her but soon gave up.

_You not lying are you?_ Alex questioned to Cassie in his head.

"No!" She nearly screamed. "I promise. She's just to naïve to see the truth."

"You guys just keep your.."

"Distance. I know. That's what we've been doing."

Alex sighed and sat back on the bed. Cassie did the same. Alex lost himself in his own thought as he stared at the bed covers.

"She's not mad at you." said Cassie.

"Your sure?"

"Yea… I'm sure." She said solemnly.

_No one needs to know at all times what people are thinking. It will eventually eat them away from the inside out to hear all the crude comments people unconsciously make in their thoughts._ Thought Cassandra. She thought about this quite often; Whenever she would walk past a discriminative teacher, or student, or even if they didn't like her shirt. It killed her. _Now, this. He __**does**__ like me, but I'm his second choice. Even after that stupid display she just put on. It's her over me._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The next morning Alex woke up at 4:30, once again. He went through his same routine as the day before, minus the crying Naima. He took a shower and picked out his clothes; A Dark blue long sleeve shirt with a white strip across his chest, dark denim jeans, and his Addidas shoes.

Then, as he was walking to his door, there was a light tap on one of his windows. Without taking a step towards the window, Alex pulled the metal blinds up. It was Cassie.

_Why?_

She motioned for him to open the window. He did as she said but still remaining stationary. Cassie stumbled into the room and Alex went over to help her up.

"Why are you here?" He whispered. The clock read 5:00 Am.

"Do you know where Naima is?"

"What? She in her room."

"Are you sure?" She pushed.

"Well I mean…"

He didn't get to finish Cassie took his hand and drug him to Naima's door. She jerked the door open and pushed him in.

The room was empty and a breeze wafted through the cracked window.

"Shit." said Alex.

"Yea."

"Where is she!" He exclaimed in a hushed voice, careful not to wake Angela.

"She's with Nathan. He got her drunk and we all know what Nathan will want."

Alex balled his hands into fists. The glow of his eyes increased. "Where exactly." He said between clenched teeth.

"At Nathan's house on Ridgebrook Drive. I can show you where but we don't have a car. It took me thirty minutes to walk here." She said hopelessly.

"Come on." He said tugging her arm out the door.

Alex walked through the house quietly but with an extreme intensity. Cassie stumbled behind. Alex threw the front door open and shut it carefully behind him. Then he stopped and looked around.

Cassie was confused at first but his thoughts soon answered her questions.

"There." She said, pointing sheet of metal that had been left over from covering the central heating and cooling unit.

Alex lifted his hand and simultaneously the metal sheet lifted and flew towards them and stopped suddenly in front of Alex.

He looked at Cassie. "Hang on." He said pulling her close and jumping on the metal sheet. Then they were off. They were flying.

Alex was crouched down leaning forward slightly. The wind rushed through his still wet hair.

Cassie clung tightly to his chest and looked down at the roads; focusing on what needed to be done.

"Its down there." She said pointing to a brick house with nearly twenty cars parked in the yard and driveway.

Alex went into a dive and Cassie dug her fingernails into his chest. They landed, finally, and Alex jumped off quickly and then stopped. He spun around to look at Cassie who was stumbling forward; He grabbed her shoulders.

"Where?" He asked.

Cassie shook her head and closed her eyes. Then suddenly she snapped them open and she grabbed his arm and took him into the house.

"This way." She said.

They made there way over kids who had passed out at some point in the night. To drunk to even stand. Then they heard giggling. Alex ran in front of Naima and pounded up the stairs. He slammed open the first door he came to.

Meanwhile…

Naima was stumbling around the room, while Nathan watched her. She went over to him and went for a kiss abut fell forward. She giggled as Nathan caught her and laid her on the bed.

"I love you." Said Naima.

"Well that's what I was getting to, baby. See…."

Alex barged through the door. Nathan's head snapped up.

"What are you doing here?" he said angrily.

"I'm picking up Naima." retorted Alex.

"She'll leave when she wants." Nathan argued.

"I don't think she has that ability anymore." Said Alex as he brushed by Nathan and went towards Naima. Nathan pulled his shoulder but he shocked him off.

"You little fucker." Said Nathan as he rubbed his stinging hand.

Alex ignored him and picked up Naima and jumped over the bed towards the door. Cassie was waiting for him at the stairs and she followed him as he stormed out of the front door.

Alex stepped onto the metal sheet._ Cassie. Hold on._ He thought. She leeched back onto his chest and shut her eyes.

"Well Hi." Said Naima unsteadily as she looked up at him. "What are you doing."

"Just close your eyes. We'll be home in a minute." He sighed.

Alex took off. It was 6:00 when they finally made it home. Alex could hear Angela in the kitchen starting her coffee.

He turned to Cassie, while still cradling Naima against his chest. "You need to go. I'll see you at school." He said quickly.

"Ok. I'll see you there. Tell me how everything goes. Bye." She said turning and walking away.

Alex resumed what he was doing. He headed around to the side of the house where Naima's window stood still cracked open. He shoved it open the rest of the way and laid Naima inside first. Then he glided inside. She had passed out along the way and was sound asleep as Alex placed her in her bed. He breathed deep and headed through her door.

Alex walked into the kitchen where Angela was sitting at the table.

"Good morning." She called.

Alex wiped the hair from his face. " Uh. I think Naima's sick." he replied.

Just then Naima stumbled out of her room towards the bathroom. Which was soon followed by gagging noises.

"I think it's a stomach virus." Said Alex never looking away from Angela's face.

"Oh." Said Angela concerned. She got up and headed towards the bathroom.

A few moments later she returned and began looking through cabinets which were filled with medicines.

"She must have tried to get dressed this morning." Said Angela. "She has her clothes on… oh well. I guess she'll have to miss school."

"Yea." said Alex.

"Fix you some breakfast and I'll get her all settled in. Then we'll head out. Mkay?"

"Okay." Said Alex heading to the cupboard. Angela walked back to the bathroom.

Soon Angela brought the weary Naima out; bracing her on her shoulder. Angela helped her into bed and gave her some medicine to help her stomach ache.

_That would be nice if it would actually help. _Thought Alex, as he sat at the table eating fruit loops.

After a few moments Angela came out of Naima's room and grabbed her car keys. "Ok. Lets go." she said as she headed to the door. Alex followed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The ride to the school was quiet and filled with tension between the two. They finally arrived and Angela parked in the same spot as the day before. As Alex opened the door and began to step out Angela caught him by the arm. Alex whirled around.

"Behave." She said in a concerned but strict tone.

"No worries mate." Replied Alex. He walked away and headed towards the school.

He walked down the sidewalk and turned to face the tinted glass door of the school. He took a deep breath and went in. As, soon as he stepped in the door frame he saw Cassie running down the hall. It wasn't just running it was a full on sprint down the hall. Then Alex saw why. Behind her were two of Nathan's thugs.

Cassie ran and hid behind Alex. She peeked from behind his arm.

The two guys stopped suddenly. They were gasping for breath. Alex just looked at them.

"We'll… get you.. When your little friend… isn't around." One of them said as he began to turn away.

Alex caught his shoulder and spun him around.

"If you do. I'll kill you." said Alex plainly. He took Cassie's arm and shrugged between the two. _It's going to be a long day._

"I agree." said Cassie.

Alex sighed. "Why were they chasing you anyway?"

"Because of what we did this morning." She replied, still walking.

Alex stopped. "Don't lie."

Cassie looked back at him. "I'm not lying."

"Oh please. He didn't even see you this morning."

Cassie laughed. "Ok. Well I may have homeroom with Nathan, and I may have picked on him a bit." She said looking, uneasily, up at Alex.

"Well I thought it would be fun to narrate his thoughts to the class."

"He got mad over that?"

"Well, see, and then a substitute for another class walked in, Mrs. Scott. He was sorta checking her out. Lets just say I never stopped the narration and you, being a guy and all, have somewhat of an idea of what he was thinking of." She explained.

Alex stared at her. Then burst out into laughter. "That's priceless. I wish I had been there."

"Ha. Yea It was great until they started chasing me." She sighed. "But I need to be going back. The late bell is about to ring. As a matter of fact your going to be late."

"No I wont." He said his eyes getting brighter. Then the hallway went black.

Cassie waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light and then she looked at him. He had just shut off all power to the school.

"I'm never late." He laughed as he kissed her forehead and headed to his homeroom.

Cassie watched him as he walked down the dark hallway. She soon lost sight of him and headed back the way she had come.

Alex had no problem seeing in the dark. As he walked down the hall he glanced into rooms to see what the students thought of their sudden power outage. Then he saw Andrew and Mark in one of the rooms. Two of the guys he had played basketball with yesterday. He was preoccupied with watching them and he wasn't watching where he was going.

Next thing he new someone grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him against the lockers. Alex looked at the guy, stunned.

"G'Day Alex." Said the guy in a quiet voice.

"How does everybody know my name?!" Said Alex as he shocked the guy off of him.

He stumbled back into the middle of the hall. Then He was back beside Alex within a second. Then it all fell together. Alex knew who he was.

"Jacoby?" asked Alex.

"Ha. Who did you think it was?" Said Jacoby.

"I should've known you would follow me." Replied Alex as he began walking away.

"Hang on a tick." Said Jacoby. He materialized in front of Alex.

Alex stopped short. "Listen mate I have to go to class. It's bad enough I turned off their power for this long." He sighed. " I'll meet you on top of the awnings, out there, after school. Okay?" Said Alex as he ran towards his homeroom.

Jacoby intercepted him as he was turning into the room.

"Don't leave me waiting." said Jacoby.

"I know Mr. Impatient. Shove off." Said Alex. Jacoby vanished and Alex continued into his room.

He walked in quietly then stopped. All eyes were on him. He smiled and sat down slowly.

"G'day." He said as he looked over the new faces.

When the chatter started back and eyes returned to their own business Alex turned the power on. He concentrated and his eyes burned with electricity. The lights flickered back on and the students let out a unanimous groan as the teachers cheered.

A voice came over the intercom. "All students go to first block. We will ring bells from here on out." Said a woman's voice.

Alex got up quickly and vanished out into the hall; He continued to his locker. He popped open the door, without touching the combination lock, and grabbed his history book.

"Hey." said a voice from behind him.

Alex turned. It was Cassie. He let out a sigh. "Hey."

"Let's go to class." She said pulling on his arm.

Alex looked at her strangely but followed anyway. They walked in silence until they hit Coach McCollum's door.

"Hey. I've been meaning to ask you something for a while." Said Alex.

Cassie went to her seat and sat down with a sigh. "I'm only allowed to go to school because Angela set it up for me. Okay?"

"Then … Why didn't she…"

"She didn't use me for her experiment because I have a family. Plus I didn't want too." Interrupted Cassie. "The government then told her she would only be given one more pass. That's where you come in. Angela is putting her job in your hands."

Alex stood in front of her taking in every word carefully. "Okay…I guess.. That answers all my questions." he said as Coach McCollum walked in. Alex sat down quickly behind Cassie.

Cassie turned to him. "So. Your meeting Jacoby after school." She whispered.

_Yea_ He thought.

"So, in your head, you think of him like an older brother. Am I Right?"

_Yea, he's the first mutant I met that would help me. He is three years older than me so he was one year away from graduating when they made the law. He was forced to drop out. So me and him have kind of joined forces ever since then. I would stay with him when I needed a place to crash._

"That's cool." she whispered back. "So, he travels a lot too."

_Yea, He can't teleport somewhere unless he's seen it before so he travels a lot. He's been to America but never Alabama. Only the west coast. so he had to find another way. It probably pissed him off... He's so impatient…. Why are you asking? Why don't you dig for it yourself?_

"Well… I didn't feel like rummaging through your maze of past thoughts at the moment. Sorry." She said whispering over Coach McCollum's lecture. She turned away from Alex and faced forward.

Alex looked at her puzzled then his heart stopped.

"Alex?" Said coach McCollum.

Alex looked at him wide eyed. "What?"

He gave him a glare. "Nevermind. Caroline can you tell me what were the main causes of the American revolution? Since some of us were in another world."

Alex cowered back into his seat. _Why didn't Cassie tell him?_

"Because." she whispered back to him. "Oh. I can't believe Angela fell for the stomach virus! that's funny."

Alex just looked at her. Cassie raised an eyebrow and turned back around. "Nevermind." she said taking the hint.

The class soon ended and Alex took his time leaving the class. He was even slow walking down the hall. Cassie did the same. He soon made it to his locker and propped up against it.

Jacoby came out of nowhere beside Cassandra. Alex jumped.

"Crikey. You fucking scared me." Said Alex as he slapped Jacoby on the chest. Jacoby was quite a bit taller than Alex and a little stronger, as well. He had the same haircut as Alex only his hair was a sandy blonde with natural highlights streaming through. His eyes were a deep green and it always seemed as if he knew something he wasn't telling you.

Jacoby snapped to his side and put him in a headlock. "Really now? I figure you'd be used to it by now right?" He said laughingly; with a thick Aussie accent. He smiled beautifully at Cassie. She couldn't help but blush.

Alex sent a light shock to Jacoby and his arms snapped away suddenly. "That, however, no one gets used too." He said smiling and rubbing his forearm. He reached out and tousled Alex's hair.

Alex looked at him happily. His friend was back.

"Who might this little tacker be?" Asked Jacoby as he looked at Cassie.

"My name's Cassandra or Cassie for short." She said holding her hand out.

Jacoby embraced it. "Hi. I'm Jacoby." He said smiling at her.

Alex laughed. "Hell, she knew that before she even talked to me this morning."

"How so?" Asked Jacoby.

"She reads minds." Said Alex watching for Jacoby's reaction.

Jacoby tilted his head. "Really? That's pretty awesome, I would have to say."

"Sometimes." Replied Cassie listlessly.

The bell rang for Alex and Cassie to head to second block.

"Well, I'll see you after school." Said Jacoby. Then he vanished.

Alex walked away and Cassie yelled after him.

"Bye." she said.

"Bye." He replied. He walked towards gym class with one thought on his mind:

_Nathan._


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey Guys.**

Here are some song associations. These are songs that I thought fit my characters personality. 

I'll add more in the following chapters but enjoy these for now. **Chapte**r **11** is below the songs.

**Alex **- 

Animal I have become, Three days Grace

Kiss and Control, AFI

Girls not Grey - AFI

Endlessly, she said - AFI

All these things I hate, Bullet for my Valentine 

One step Closer, Linkin Park

Cat and Mouse, Red jumpsuit Apparatus

God Called in Sick Today, AFI

Headstrong, trapt

more to come later... more variety...mhmm.

**Cassandra**-

Break down, Breaking Benjamin

I'm so Sick - Flyleaf

Predictable- Good Charlotte **(and Alex if you want)**

The Con - Tegan and Sara

More to come...

**Jacoby**- 

Emergency - Paramore **(Has to do with Alex... sorta)**

Headstrong, Trapt

Your not Alone - Saosin **(Yet again related to Alex. How he supports him.)**

Pain, Three Days Grace

More to come...

**Naima**- 

I'm Not okay, My chemical Romance

Numb, Linkin Park

Breaking the Habit, Linkin Park

Your not Alone - Saosin

more to come...

**Alex and Cassie-**

HeroHeroine, Boys like girls

Miseria Cantare, AFI

Slow Dancing in a burning room, John Mayer

More to come...

**Alex, Casssie, and Jacoby... The Mutants**

Miseria Cantare, AFI

Strength through Wounding, AFI

Born for This, Paramore

Born Like This, Three Days Grace

Raise your Voice, Three Days Grace

Riot, Three Days Grace

more to come...

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Alex walked carefully into the locker room of the gym. He could hear Nathan and his buddies talking in the back corner. 

Right where his locker was. 

Alex let out a sigh. He headed past the rows of lockers and stopped at the last one. He could hear them laughing and carrying on now. The locker room door opened and closed and the sounds of other kids filled the room.

Alex rounded the corner and popped open his locker quickly. 

Everything stopped. Nathan let his smile slip away as he walked towards Alex, glaring.

As Alex slipped his shirt off, Nathan shoved him backwards. Alex threw his shirt in the locker and jumped in front of Nathan. 

Nathan returned the favor by towering over him and getting into his face.

"Do we need another lesson?" Asked Alex as he stood strong, his shoulders back and chin up.

Nathan's eyes burned with rage and his face became red and flustered. "You better keep to yourself, mutant." Said Nathan.

Alex just looked him up and down. He grabbed his gym shirt and slipped it on. "No worries mate. Just stay out of my way." Said Alex while cocking his head mockingly.

"I think you have it wrong there." Said Nathan. "You'd better stay out of my way." His face boiling.

"Really now?" Alex said giving him a smirk. "Then touch me. We'll see who makes it out." Alex stepped back and grabbed his gym shorts.

Nathan mumbled under his breath and backed towards his group.

Alex slipped off his pants and slipped on the black gym shorts. He put his shoes on quickly and walked out into the gym. He sat down underneath the goal and waited patiently.

Soon all of the guys were dressed and in the gym. The coach blew his whistle. "Ok. We are going outside today. You can play football, baseball, or jump rope if you feel the need." The class let out a laugh. Alex rolled his eyes. "You have to be doing something though. Is that a deal?"

"Yes sir." Said the class loudly.

"Alright. Come on then." He said waving his hand and walking towards the door leading outside.

Alex got up slowly and followed. He had no intention in playing any kind of ball. Once outside Alex snuck around to the awnings on the other side of the gym. He climbed up one of the poles and heaved himself onto the top of the metal covering. He crossed his legs and watched his gym class go to separate activities.

Alex heard a whoosh beside him and a gust of wind tousled his hair. He smiled.

"Hey Jacoby." said Alex

"Hey." replied Jacoby in a worried tone.

"What?"

"You look angry." Said Jacoby.

Alex laughed. "Yea… Well Its that Nathan kid." He said pointing his finger at Nathan.

Jacoby followed his stare. "Oh. Hang on."

"Don't…" Alex tried to say but it was to late he was gone.

Alex watched as Jacoby appeared on the side of the weight room; hidden from the guys. Then He was back by Alex's side.

"He's taller than I am." He laughed. "Why do you two not get along?" Jacoby let his feet hang over the side of the awnings.

"You'll get me in trouble." Said Alex motioning to his feet. He let out a breath. "We don't get along cause he's biased… and the fact that he's a slimy asshole… You know he got Naima drunk, and tried to have sex with her?"

"So that's the girl who was passed out in your house." Said Jacoby.

"You've been in the house?"

"No not in the house. I have looked in the windows though. She did look rotten." He laughed. "I didn't want to jump to conclusions though."

"Yea. She's the daughter of Angela the lady who brought me here." Said Alex calmly. "Anyway mate, I had to go get her before Nathan got his grubby hands on her, and sneak her back into her room this morning." A hint of anger flashed on his face.

Jacoby raised an eyebrow. "You like her?"

Alex glanced at Jacoby and back at the ground. "Well, at this point it's not so much of me liking her; It's more of I care about her." He stated.

"Yea." Said Jacoby rolling his eyes. "Just don't mess anything up." He warned.

"What do you mean?" Asked Alex.

"Well, do you think Angela would be ok with you dating her daughter? Would Nathan be ok with it?" He paused. "Would _Cassie_ be ok with it?"

Alex remained silent.

"Just remember that ok?"

Alex nodded.

As if on cue a voice boomed from underneath the awnings.

"Who's up there?" Yelled the man. He walked up to the dangling feet and tugged on Jacoby's shoes.

Alex turned to Jacoby. "Thanks mate." He said sarcastically. "Get us out of here. Now."

"Ok hang on." Replied Jacoby. He wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulders and closed his eyes.

The man was still ranting underneath the awnings, warning that he would get the principal, until the legs disappeared. He stood there silent. In awe.

"Hello?" He called.

No answer. 

Alex and Jacoby reappeared beside the weight room below. Where Jacoby had jumped to earlier; hidden.

Jacoby let go of Alex's shoulders. Alex stumbled over to the wall where he plopped down; while Jacoby stretched and shook the hair from his face. He let the sun warm his skin.

"Are you staying here?" Asked Alex as he sat with his head propped against the metal siding of the building.

"As long as you stay here I'm here." Replied Jacoby.

"What about your place?"

"I'm having Eric sell it for me. I'll jump back and close the deal. Then I'll come back here." He said turning to face Alex. "I'm interested in the house up the road from you. It seems alright. I'll need more money but you know I always seem to come across money when I need it. Right?" He laughed.

Alex didn't share his amusement with the fact of stealing. "Right." He said quietly.

Alex heard foot steps and deep laughter. Then a boy appeared around the corner. He took one look at Alex and back towards his friends.

"Hey Nathan….." The boy went on.

"Shit." Sighed Alex.

"What?" Asked Jacoby.

Alex didn't get to answer. Nathan rounded the corner and looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow.

"Who's this?" He asked walking towards Jacoby.

Jacoby stood still and watched Nathan carefully. 

"A little friend of yours?" Taunted Nathan.

Alex stood and steadied himself. He let a small smile creep on his face. It was about time he messed with Nathan's head.

"Your alone?" Asked Alex. "So you've finally grown some balls." He said making his way towards Nathan. 

Nathan's goons rounded the corner soon after. 

"Never mind. I guess your still a pussy." Said Alex angrily.

Nathan raised a hand and his friends stopped in their tracks. He walked up to Jacoby and jabbed him in the chest with his finger.

"Who's this? …Answer me." He asked demandingly.

Jacoby disappeared in front of Nathan and reappeared behind him. 

Nathan gasped.

Jacoby tapped his shoulder and jumped back in front of him.

"Hey." Said Jacoby with a grin.

Nathan's head whipped around with a bewildered look on his face.

_What the hell?_ Thought Nathan.

Alex watched happily from Jacoby's side.

The coach blew his whistle and it echoed over the school grounds. 

_Saved by the bell._ Thought Nathan. He turned and ran towards the mob of guys now headed for the gym.

"Bye Jacoby." Said Alex with a smile. He started walking towards the gym.

"Bye Alex." Called Jacoby after him.

He vanished.

* * *

Alex ran into the locker room and yanked off his gym clothes and pulled on his street clothes. He grabbed his schedule, which he had stuffed in his pocket, and looked at his next class. _Mrs. Redmill Business Technology Room 42_.

Alex walked around the corner of the lockers and headed towards the door, still staring at his schedule. Then it was ripped from his hands.

Alex's head jerked up and he glared hatefully at Nathan. Nathan just laughed watching Alex's face. 

"Where's your little friend?" Mocked Nathan.

Alex remained silent. He smashed Nathan against the locker and held him there with a force field. He snatched his schedule from Nathan's hands.

Alex turned and walked away calmly. Nathan fell to the ground with a thud.

_Stupid Whacker. He's beginning to test my patience._

Alex walked into the school and was greeted by Cassie who had clearly been waiting on him.

"You need to learn to keep your cool." She said with a frown.

"It's not like he can do anything to me." He said smiling and throwing his arm around her small shoulder.

"Yea." She said quietly.

"Where's our next class Mrs. Psychic?" He asked playfully.

She smiled. "Just follow me, Static Boy." She glanced up at him.

They walked through the dark library hall and crossed the courtyard. Cassie led him up the small flight of stairs and made a right.

"Here we are." She said motioning to the first door she came to on the long hallway. She headed in.

Alex took a step in. He looked around. This room was like death to him. His eyes widened. The walls were lined with computers and their were two tabled in the middle that were covered with computers as well.

A splitting head ache came to Alex. He raised his hand and rubbed his head.

The good news, the computers weren't on… yet. The bad news, he was stuck in here with them for an hour and a half.

Cassie got up from where she had taken a seat.

"Alex?" She said concerned. She touched his shoulder and a spark flew to her finger. She squealed and stepped back. "Alex?" she repeated. "Can you handle this?" 

Alex stopped and slowly looked up at her. "Yea." He said roughly and took a seat beside hers. She returned to her seat.

The teacher soon walked in and told the class to turn on their computers. 

Alex's head spun as the electricity flooded to his body instead of the computers.

"My computer doesn't work." Called one student, confused.

"Neither does mine." Said another.

The room soon filled with students complaining about their power outage. The lights began to flicker and a spark went from Alex's hair. Alex rolled his chair away from the table and put his head in his hands. He propped his elbows on his knees and his legs began shaking. 

Cassie watched, stunned, not quite sure how to react. She knew he had problems with his power but she hadn't realized how severe it was.

Alex opened his eyes. They burned with electricity that was ready to break free from his control. He had to leave. 

He took a deep breath and released his hair from his iron hold and stood slowly. He headed towards the door and opened it without touching the knob. He stumbled out into the hall and gasped for breathe.

Sparks flew from his hands and his hair and he could feel the tension release a bit. But It was still there. It had already rooted itself inside him. 

Cassie ran out after him. "Are you okay!" She said worried.

Alex straightened up and looked at her carefully. He took slow breaths and concentrated in keeping it inside away from Cassandra. He balled his hands into fists. "I'm going to go." He said slowly. "I can't do this. I'm sorry." He walked away from her and headed towards the stairs they had walked up earlier. He heard the sound of Cassie's footsteps following him but he was to focused to worry about her at the moment. 

Cassie let her mind wonder back to the teacher. The class was fine now. The computers worked and Mrs. Redmill had reported them as skipping. _Stupid bitch_ She thought to herself. She returned her thoughts to Alex. His thoughts were to dangerous to read at the moment. All she could do was give him the space he clearly needed. Then she thought about Jacoby on the awnings.

Cassie pushed past Alex and ran out to the awnings.

"Jacoby!" She called. It took merely seconds for him to respond.

"Well hey little Sheila!" He said appearing behind her.

She spun around. "It's Alex." She said hurriedly.

His smile faded into a stone stare. "What happened?"

"I think he lost control of his power." She said quickly. "He's coming this way."

Jacoby looked towards the tinted door.

As if by magic Alex burst through the door. 

Jacoby jumped to his friend's side. This had happened one to many times before.

"Breath." Said Jacoby keeping pace with Alex

"I am." Snapped Alex. His head twitched and he rolled his shoulders to relax himself.

Cassie attempted to follow. Jacoby grabbed her, however, and jumped her back in the school and left her there without a word. She stood there stunned.

Jacoby returned to Alex's side.

"Where do I need to jump you?" Asked Jacoby.

"Anywhere where I'm alone." Said Alex frantically.

"I saw a place." He said quickly.

Jacoby grabbed Alex's arm and braced against the electricity now pulsing through his body. He jumped to a nearby field that he had discovered earlier today.

Jacoby dropped Alex to the blanket of grass and left him there:

Alone.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Alex crumpled down onto the grass. He pulled his knees to his chest and waited a moment. He finally controlled himself enough to release his knees and look around. He was alone or at least he hoped.

Alex stood in the middle of the open field and took a deep breath. He lowered his head and stared at the grass beneath his feet. His hands extended slightly he opened his palms and looked up at the sky. He could feel the warmth of the suns rays as he prepared himself.

He hated this. It was like his very own curse. He felt as if his power controlled him and he simply watched as an innocent bystander.

The electricity had balled itself up inside of him. It had stopped its relentless crusade at escaping. Alex knew, however, that it was only due to the lack of electrical devices and people around him. He had to let it out before he returned with Jacoby.

Alex closed his eyes slowly. Concentrated. Then his eye lids snapped open and in a whirlwind of blue light the electricity escaped through his palms. His hair sparked furiously and his eyes burned. He ground his teeth in a slight sneer and glared at the empty field before him.

As quickly as it began everything stopped. Alex's arms went limp against his sides and he gasped as he fell to the grass. The glow of his eyes flickered out, making his irises an eerie gray color, and he hit the ground.

He stood carefully, and steadied his self. His thoughts cleared immediately. Jacoby would be back for him in a matter of seconds.

He was right.

Jacoby appeared suddenly in front of Alex causing him to stumble backwards. Alex tripped and fell when Jacoby caught him unexpectedly from behind.

"You ok, kid?" He asked laying Alex on the grass.

Alex nodded. He was weak from the sudden release of energy. But he would recover, he always did. His head throbbed.

Jacoby laughed and messed with Alex's hair. Alex blinked; the glow had slightly returned to his eyes.

This had happened countless times back in Australia and both him and Jacoby were aware of the routine. Jacoby didn't blame him, however, he was still a young mutant and it was expected. He only had his power for three years but he had made considerable progress with it. Sadly, he still couldn't control it at times. Jacoby, on the other hand, has had his power for seven years. He is fully capable of controlling them…most of the time.

Alex heaved up off of the ground and propped his head on his knees. The world seemed to tip.

"Are you ready?" Asked Jacoby, "Cassie is probably worried."

Alex attempted to stand. Jacoby helped him get his bearings.

"Ok. Breath." He said quietly. And they were gone.

They reappeared back at the school where Jacoby had left Cassie. She sat against the lockers waiting patiently.

Jacoby landed and let go of Alex, who faltered backwards. Cassie ran to catch him but he hit the carpet with a thud. Jacoby looked back at Alex apologetically

"Sorry, Habit." He said holding out a hand and helping Alex to his feet.

Alex swayed and kept one arm on Jacoby's shoulder. He rubbed his face with the other. "We probably just need to go home for the day." He said.

"Angela will be pissed." Said Cassie.

"Yea, but _I _can't just waltz back into that death room." He stated. "Angela will have to call and have them change my schedule."

"I can't leave." She said quickly. "I'm going to be in trouble with my dad already. I'll see you guys later." She said, turning to walk away. "I'm glad our okay Alex." She called and retreated around a corner.

"Bye" Said Alex and Jacoby in unison.

"Come on." Said Jacoby. "I'll explain to Angela for you." He put his arm around Alex's shoulder.

"Yea." Said Alex. He knew, however, _Angela was going to be pissed._

Jacoby and Alex appeared in front of Angela's house. Alex gulped. He took a step for the door and opened it suddenly.

"Angela?" He called taking a step in, motioning for Jacoby to do the same.

Someone rounded the corner and Jacoby jumped. It was Naima.

Alex stared at her. She returned the favor and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Feel better?" Asked Alex as he started to walk past her.

"I feel fine." Said Naima following him.

"Where's Angela?"

Naima looked back at Jacoby who merely followed Alex into the kitchen. "She went to the grocery store." Stated Naima. "Why are you back so early?"

Alex leaned on the counter. "I had a problem." He said plainly.

"Who's that?" She said jabbing her finger towards Jacoby.

"This is Jacoby one of the blokes I hung out with down under."

Naima laughed. _Down under._ "How did he get here?"

"Wanna show her?" Asked Alex.

"Sure." Said Jacoby with a smile. He vanished and appeared beside Naima.

"Oh." Said Naima. "That's cool." She stared with her eyebrow raised.

Jacoby jumped back beside Alex.

Naima stared at them both incredulously. "What happened today?"

"Nothing of interest." Said Alex smiling.

"Tell me or…"

"Or what?" Said Alex moving in front of Naima.

"What is your problem?" She asked.

"Your bloody boyfriend. That's my problem." He said getting closer and closer to her.

"There's nothing wrong with him." She said shyly.

Alex gave a blank stare. "Yes. Getting you drunk and forcing his self on you is perfectly sweet. The perfect gentleman."

Naima gasped. She walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face. Alex's head turned. Naima stepped back with a kind smile. "Thank you."

Jacoby and Alex stared at her confused. "What?"

"Thank you for getting me away from him when you did. I wasn't myself."

Alex rubbed his cheek. "Was that necessary?"

"No." She said plainly and kissed his still red cheek.

Alex stood there and looked at her with wide eyes. "Are you ok?" He asked.

Naima just laughed. "Yea. I just thought you deserved it." She smiled. "You have to keep that between us though. We don't want Nathan to…"

"Your going back to him." Alex interrupted his smile faded.

"Well, duh." She said. "He's not like that all the time. He's coming over this afternoon. I already texted him."

Alex groaned. "Oh." He said stiffly. He shouldered past Naima to his room.

Jacoby looked at Naima and followed Alex close behind.

Midnight was laying on the bed when Alex walked into his room. Alex plopped on the bed beside her. Jacoby appeared on the opposite side of her on the bed.

"Women" Said Alex as he stroked Midnight's ear.

"Women." Agreed Jacoby as he pet midnight.

Angela arrived home an hour later. Naima met her at the door and explained that Alex had come home.

Angela raised her eyebrow. "He what?"

"He's in his room right now, with some mutant he picked up back in Australia." Said Naima.

"Hang on." Said Angela as she headed back towards Alex's room. Her high heels clicking on the hard tile floor.

Alex jumped off the bed and crossed his arms. Angela walked in.

"Why are you home?" She asked angrily.

"I had a problem." Replied Alex. Jacoby sat up off the bed and looked at Angela.

"It better have been a damn good problem, and who is that?" Her voice boomed.

Alex stepped back. "Uh… This is Jacoby. He's one of my friends from Australia. He teleports." He explained motioning towards Jacoby.

Angela glared at Jacoby and he laid back down quickly. "Is he why you came home? Because if he was I swear…"

"No! Angela no. He wasn't."

"Then tell me why you're here and not at school?!"

Alex sighed and sat down on the bed. He stared at the floor thinking of a good way to explain what had happened.

Angela put her hand on her hip and tapped her foot. "I'm waiting."

"I… I don't know how to explain it."

Jacoby sat up. "Hi." He said smiling. "Alex lost control of his power. I wasn't there but I helped him calm down."

The room went quiet. "Alex, is this true?"

Alex stared wide eyed at Angela. She could have sworn she saw fear on his face.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly as he stood.

"It's ok Alex." She said carefully. "Just sit down."

Alex sat.

"What's wrong with you?" Asked Angela.

"Nothing."

"Jacoby… That's your name right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ok well you come back in an hour ok? I need to talk to Alex."

Jacoby nodded and vanished.

Silence filled the room. Alex moved to the middle of the bed and pulled his legs to his chest. Midnight watched him and he reached out to stroke her ear.

Angela moved over to the bed and sat near Alex's feet.

"I don't think I've done my job as your guardian." Said Angela.

Alex looked up. "What do you mean? You've been very good to me. I mean…"

"Yes I've given you food and shelter." She stated. "But I forgot your just a kid. I looked at you as a business endeavor."

Alex groaned. "Believe me Angela you've been the best guardian I've ever had."

"Thank you… I guess… You see that's what I was getting at. I want to know more about you. I know that your…." She paused. "Biological parents died." Alex Flinched. "But I don't know very much about the other families you stayed with or what happened when you got your power."

"Yea." Said Alex.

"So lets start from the beginning. Just tell me what you remember about your families." Said Angela.

"Angela… I." He sighed. "I don't like talking about this stuff okay?"

"Maybe it will help you if you did?"

_I doubt that. _He thought. "Yea."

"When your ready." She said as she scooted herself farther onto the bed and crossed her legs.

_Which will be never._ "Ok."

Angela waited nearly ten minutes before Alex actually opened his mouth to speak.

"Ok. I give." He sighed. "Your not going to let me go until I tell you are you?" Said Alex as he looked at her through his hair and smiled sadly.

"I don't think so." She said giving him a smirk.

"Damn. Ok." He paused thinking about where to begin. "Well, when I was five I was orphaned. My parents and my baby sister were hit by a drunk driver on there way to pick me up from a birthday party." Alex stopped for a moment and took a deep breathe. "Then I was sent to live with my grandma, who passed away two years later. I was then put into foster care. The first family was okay but once my _mother_ became pregnant they decided they didn't need an 8 year old boy hanging around. So, off I went to a new family." Alex clenched his teeth. "The Parsons. They were perhaps the worst family. They had one biological kid who was two yeas older than me. I was pretty much an outcast. I did what they told me too and never asked questions… I"

"They couldn't have been too bad." interrupted Angela.

Alex squinted at her angrily. "They beat me." He said as he got up to leave. His eyes were flaming.

"Where are you going?" Asked Angela as she grabbed his arm.

Alex quickly shocked her off. "I'm going out. Anywhere." He said simply.

Angela stopped "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you upset." She let him walk away.

Alex made it into the kitchen and Naima stopped him. "Hey, what's the matter?" She called.

"Nothing." He said calmly walking out of the front door.

Alex grabbed the piece of sheet metal he had used earlier that day and flew.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Alex flew for nearly an hour before deciding on the field where he let off steam earlier. He dove in and jumped off the metal letting it fall to the carpet of grass. He relaxed and sat down. He let himself fall back as he closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. He let the sun warm his face and enjoyed the smell of the grass. He opened his eyes and watched the clouds roll by.

There was rustling from the edge of the forest and Alex quickly sat up into a crouch as he panned the tree line.

Then they stepped out into the open. They were led by a guy that was about the same age as Alex. However, he was far more muscular than Alex and his red hair and red eyes told his secret. Several others followed him out of the trees. Alex counted six.

Alex stayed low holding his ground. _It's a band a mutants._ He thought. _Did they see me earlier??_

"Hi." The red head said.

Alex stared from underneath his hair. He was on their turf.

"My name's Collin. We saw you earlier today. Are you alright?" He said smoothly.

_Damn_. Alex blinked. "Yea." He answered plainly. His eyes darted from one person to another. Making sure they stayed put.

"Don't worry about them. We're not going to hurt you."

Collin was standing nearly 50 feet away with the others scattered out to his sides. Alex raised his head and shook the hair from his eyes. Then he stood up defensively never taking his eyes off of the group.

"That's better." Said Collin in his uncannily smooth voice. He took a step forward.

Alex moved back and let out a small growl.

Collin raised his hands in peace. "I'm sorry. Where are you from? You're very defensive to be from around here."

Alex scowled. He knew better to trust them right away. "Where are you from?"

Collin smiled at the accent. "I was born in Washington D.C. and I moved here when I was five." He said watching Alex closely. "Everyone else has lived here most of there lives except for Adam. He's our newest member." He motioned to the others.

"Hm. I just moved from Australia." Alex said shortly. "I'll leave, if you like." Alex looked around the field hoping they would let him leave peacefully.

"No. No. Stay. Calm down. We can all talk. It's not very often that we get a new mutant around here. And I would like to know some stuff about your unique power." Said Collin.

"I can't very well calm down when I have six mutant strangers standing around me. How do I know you won't attack me?"

"Oh I'm sorry." Said Collin. "I've been rude. Let me introduce my friends... This is Gale. She can control the weather." Collin smiled as he pointed to her.

Gale was tall with dark black hair that was cropped short under her chin. Her eyes were a beautiful green and framed by a pair of rectangle dark rimmed glasses. She stood as if radiating pride at what she was.

"And this is Anima. She can become invisible." Anima wasted no time to show off her talent. She quickly vanished and appeared in front of Alex who looked at her, unenthused, with his piercing blue eyes. Anima sulked and let her blonde hair fall into her face and went to join the others.

"My friend teleports. I'm used to people coming out of no where." Said Alex calmly. "Continue."

"Right. Well, this" He motioned to his left. "Is Robyn. He manipulates air currents which allows him to fly and has extremely good vision."

Robyn was a bronze shade of tan. His hair shimmered black with the tips shining a dark blue. His shirt was unbuttoned revealing a scar running across his perfectly muscled stomach. He smiled at Alex and Alex nodded back.

"This is Mike. He can morph and change into any kind of animal."

Mike morphed into a white tiger in little less than a second. He relaxed and lay down as if he was more comfortable in that form. More at home.

"And this... Is Adam. He controls any type of earth."

Alex looked at Adam. His eyes were glazed over with a grayish shade of blue with his pupils showing slightly from under it. His feet were bare and he stood very alert of his surroundings. His brown hair hung half way down his face and was carefully swept to one side.

Alex gazed at him in wonder. _Can he see?_

"And I, of course, am Collin. I can make and control fire and I heal myself."

"You heal yourself?" Asked Alex tearing his gaze from Adam.

"Yes. It takes nearly seconds for an open gash to be as good as new."

"That's amazing."

"Now, now. Enough about us. Tell us about your power." Collin said cheerfully. Everyone moved closer to Alex and stood in front of him.

Alex instinctively took a step back. "I control electricity..." A spark shot from his hair unwillingly. He sighed and looked over their heads. Adam stepped forward. Their eyes locked but only Alex knew that.

"You're not the only one who has trouble with their power." Said Adam his eyes drifted down to the ground which confirmed Alex's suspicions. "Every one of us has, at one point."

Alex didn't answer. He just continued to look at Adam's eyes.

Adam smiled. "No I can't see. I see through the vibrations in the ground. I'm the one who told them you landed here."

"Oh... That's ace... It seems more of an advantage than a disadvantage." He smiled back.

"Yea." Said Adam.

"Well I'm going to be on my way. I bet Angela is worried about me..." Said Alex as he magnetized the metal he threw earlier. He stepped up on it and looked over the eyes that were intently watching him.

"Come back tomorrow around the same time." Said Collin.

"I'll come around 3:30." Replied Alex as he flew away back towards his house.

Tardy, Tardy. I'm Sorry guys. My computer fried last week and I have been unable to write at all. Which bothered me as much as it bothered you. The good new is, however, that my computer is back and I have an idea for a new story that I plan to post sometime next week. First I have to get all the kinks ironed out of it. Never to fear my loves, ha ha, I will still continue this story until it's awesome ending.

So, enjoy chapter 13 of Affliction.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"I'm worried about him." Said Angela as she propped her elbows on the counter. "I mean maybe I made a mistake by bringing him all the way here."

Naima propped herself on the other side of the counter. "I think he's doing all right." She said non challant.

"Naima. Be reasonable." She said rising up and putting her hands on her hips. "He didn't even make through one day of school."

"Well let him get adjusted. You said yourself that he had a hard life. Just give him a little more time."

"I don't know."

"So you're just going to give up on him like everyone else?"

Angela sighed.

Just then Jacoby appeared beside Angela. "G'Day Ladies." Angela jumped and put her hand to her chest.

"Oh! You scared me!... Don't ever do that again!" Said Angela breathing deeply.

"Oh, sorry mate." Laughed Jacoby, "Where's Alex?"

Nobody said a word. Jacoby frowned. "What happened?" He looked from Angela to Naima.

"He stormed out when we were talking about one of his families." Said Angela while looking at her feet.

Jacoby sighed. "Yea, the Parsons. They were a bunch of ass holes."

"I could tell... I don't know. He seems unstable right now." Replied Angela.

"That's because he is." Said Jacoby. "Do you want me to go Fi--"

Jacoby was interrupted by Midnights barking. She ran into the kitchen as her paws slide across the tile. She stopped at the back door and began wagging her tail and whining happily.

Alex waited on the other side of the door and rolled his neck. He twisted the door knob and stepped in slowly. Midnight nudged his hand and he rubbed her neck with a sigh. Everyone turned to look at him. He peered at them through his hair with his icy blue eyes. His face was soft and apologetic, innocent.

Alex's hands were shaking slightly now as he stopped in the middle of the kitchen.

It was dead silent.

"I..." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry." He whispered. Midnight sat by his side.

"Aww its ok baby..." Said Angela as she ran over to Alex. She embraced him in a bear hug and rocked side to side. "I'm just happy you're safe."

Alex stood there with his arms to his sides. His eyes were wide and he smiled slightly. _This is new._

Jacoby laughed. Then Angela released Alex and looked him over. Alex gave her a smirk.

"Can I go to my room?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, Yes. Go ahead sweetie. You've had a long day." Said Angela, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Alex walked down the hall, with midnight following, and Jacoby disappeared into his room.

* * *

Alex lay on his side with his legs to his chest. Jacoby had left hours ago after he became tired of sitting in silence. _I'll be back._ He had said. Midnight lay in front of Alex, as always, and thoughts ran through his head; of home, school, his families, his friends, and the mutants. He let himself succumb to the emotions that had been welling up inside of him... and he sobbed.

* * *

Naima lay in her bed and listened to Alex. It was heart wrenching. She battled with herself and finally decided to check on him like he did her. She slowly walked down the hall. The floor boards creaked and she knew she had been heard. As, she raised her hand to knock, Alex opened the door and wiped his eyes. The movement was so fast Naima almost missed it.

"Yea?" Asked Alex and he stared at her frowning, still holding the edge of the door.

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok." She said slowly.

Alex laughed a sort of crazy laugh. "To make sure I'm ok? I was born this messed up. You think that will change now?" He rolled his head as a spark went from the tips of his hair. Naima stepped back.

Alex grimaced. "Typical. You would be afraid just like everyone else. Even Angela."

"Alex, you need to calm down." She said softly.

"Calm down?" Said Alex loudly. He snarled and grabbed Naima's shoulders and thrust her against the wall. His face was near millimeters from hers. "I've seen horrors your little spoiled self could never imagine." He spit. His head was cocked to the side, his lips hovering over hers.

She could feel his hot breathe blowing across her face. She stared wide eyed at his rage.

"...But yet..." He paused. His voice became more controlled, now. "After what you put me through, these last couple of days... I still care for you." He propped his forehead against hers and their noses touched briefly. "And I don't know why... It's as if you have some hold over me."

He searched her eyes and she searched back. She became mystified at the pools of sparkling blue. They truly were a work of art.

His muscles flexed and he tighten his grip on her arms. She winced. "I'm sorry." He said frowning and releasing his iron grasp. Yet, he stayed planted where he was. His face was oh so close to hers.

Naima smiled and then a look of shock came across her face. She realized that she cared for him, too. Even though he was stupid and had fits of rage; she truly cared for him. _Why else would she go to his room in the middle of the night to see if he was ok? _The epiphany startled her for many reasons; One, She only just met him, two, he was a mutant, and three, he had a menacing temper. Yet there were so many things she loved about him. The way he wiped the hair from his face, the way his eyes sparkled, the way he spoke the way he walked, etcetera etcetera... She quickly wiped the look off her face and glanced back at Alex.

Then he kissed her full on the lips, savoring every second, knowing that she could break free at any moment. But she didn't. She kissed him back. They stood there in the middle of the hall enjoying their moment of revelation. She rapped her arms around his neck and smiled -- still kissing-- at the spark that went to her hand. Electricity surged through her and she knew it was from him. It only enhanced the moment, however, and she embraced him tighter. He slid his hand to her waste and propped her against the wall. "I love you." He said softly and then embraced her lips again.

A light came on above their heads and Alex jumped back and hit the other wall with a thud. He stared shocked toward the light switch. He hadn't heard anyone coming.

Naima stared surprised down the hall and hugged the wall even closer than before.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Alex looked down the hall at Jacoby and let out a sigh of relief. _That's why I didn't here anyone coming._

Naima relaxed and rubbed her neck. "Well, um... I'm gonna go" She said slipping into her room. She leaned against her door and closed her eyes. "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid." She whispered to herself.

Jacoby laughed.

Alex stood next to her door listening. "She regrets it." He whispered to Jacoby.

"No, she probably regrets me seeing it though." He laughed. Alex frowned and started back for his room with slumped shoulders. Jacoby followed.

"Anyway mate." Said Jacoby as he shut the bedroom door. "Did you sleep at all tonight?"

Alex looked back at Jacoby quickly.

"You didn't did you?"

"Well I had a lot on my mind. Okay?!" Alex snapped. "...Alright I'm sorry mate. It's just I met this band of mutants in that field yesterday."

"Budger me dead? Really?!" Said Jacoby quickly.

"Really."

"What did they look like?" Said Jacoby as he jumped to the bed.

"Well, one, the leader I'm guessing, was a bluey but the thing is his eyes were red, too. It was sort of creepy. Anyway, he could control fire... and heal himself."

"That's something. Can we go meet them?"

"... Now? What time is it?" Said Alex. He leaned over and looked at the clock's LCD screen. It read 4:45am. Now, he knew why Jacoby had come back.

Jacoby seemed to read his thoughts. "That's why I asked if you had slept."

"Thanks. Your bloods worth bottling mate... I guess we could." Said Alex as he lightened up. "We'll need to be back at 6:00 so Angela won't suspect."

"No problem." Said Jacoby as he appeared by Alex.

"I'm just warning you... Their a little strange."

"Aren't we all?"

They disappeared.

They landed in the field in mere seconds. Alex stumbled but quickly regained his balance. He went down into a crouch and scanned the forest line. Jacoby knelt beside him and put his hand on Alex's shoulder.

"See anything." Asked Jacoby. He was blind in the dark; Alex was not.

"No. I hear them coming, though. We just need to wait." He whispered.

The wait was short lived as Collin and Adam walked slowly out of the field. Collin's hand was on fire and he was using it as a light to guide his way. Adam was ahead of him and walked straight for Alex and Jacoby.

Jacoby stiffened as he dropped his hand from Alex's shoulder. Alex soon realized why. The rest of the mutants were standing behind Collin on the edge of the forest. Alex stood when he saw them move to surround the field. Alex's eyes glowed and he stretched his hand out. He made a force field on both sides of the group and pushed them out into the open. "They all need to be visible." Said Alex sternly as he released the force field.

"My mistake." Said Collin. He raised his fire lit hand and motioned all of them forward. They stopped just feet from Alex.

Jacoby stood behind Alex, tensed and ready to jump if the need arose. Collin lit a small area of grass between the two groups, so both could see.

"What brings you here?" Asked Collin.

Alex grimaced. There was something strange about them. "My friend wanted to meet you. Jacoby. He teleports."

"Maybe we should go." Whispered Jacoby as his eyes darted from one to the other.

Collin's expression changed immediately. He became infuriated and stepped through the fire to stand in front of Alex.

Alex growled and took a step back. Collin kept moving forward, however, with the other five in tow.

"Stop or I swear to God I will kill you." Threatened Alex through clenched teeth.

Collin stopped and let out a menacing laugh. "Kill me? That's funny... There's no need to leave." He said returning to his normal tone. "We were actually going to ask you if you would like to join us."

Alex and Jacoby took another step back. "I can't."

"Why not?" He said tilting his head to the side.

"... I'm already distracted. I can't disappoint Angela again. Plus, I have a band back home."

"Who is Angela?" Asked Collin shortly.

"She's a mutant researcher... I live with her."

"...Human?" Said Collin grimacing. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind you hanging out with your kind." He said smoothly.

"I'm sure she wouldn't." said Alex plainly. "Let me rephrase that. I can't handle anymore drama in my life. Okay? I'll see you guys around."

"Yes, you will." Said Collin.

"Wossat supposed to mean?" Asked Jacoby angrily.

"Nothing in particular." Explained Collin.

Alex glared at them. "Let's go." He said to Jacoby as he put his hand on his shoulder.

They vanished.

"Isn't that handy." Said Collin to Adam.

"Yes sir."

"Robyn, Were you able to find out were he lives this time?" Asked Collin turning from Adam.

"Yes sir. I'm still unable to read Alex's thoughts but I was able to read the other ones."

"Good. Then it was a smart move to keep that a secret."

"He will find out."

Collin eyed him. "How?"

"He's friends with Cassandra."

"Then we will need to get to her before he does. Now don't we?"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Jacoby and Alex reappeared at the foot of Alex's bed. Alex stumbled and clung to the comforter for support.

"We have a problem." Said Cassie who was conveniently plopped on the bed.

"Damn! You came out of no where." Said Jacoby.

Alex looked up at her. "Why…are you here?"

"I can't tell you." She said glancing at Jacoby.

"What do you mean you can't tell me.. I…"

"No Alex, I can't tell Jacoby."

Silence.

"Why?" asked Jacoby. "Is it personal?"

"No Jacoby it's about what you just did… You know Robyn?" Alex nodded and Jacoby shrugged. "He can read minds, like me. The thing is though is that he can't read Alex's for whatever reason.."

"So… this means?"

"I need to talk to Alex alone because your thoughts are like an open book and we need all the help we can get at this point."

They both stared wide eyed at her. "You're sure?" Questioned Jacoby.

"Yes! Now go somewhere sound proof." She said angrily.

Jacoby raised his hands in surrender and disappeared.

Cassie turned to face Alex and Alex sat down in front of her.

"What's going on?" He asked.

She sighed and looked at her hands. "Why did you go see them?"

Alex tilted his head. "They asked."

"You just set your own fate."

"Cassie What the Hell are you talking about?!"

She looked up solemnly. "What? Did you think they would let another mutant run around in their territory?!"

"…But… They haven't done anything to you?"

"No because I honestly don't pose a threat., Alone, that is. Now that you and Jacoby are here they want all of us gone."

"… Why?"

She glared. "Do I need to spell it out for you? You didn't join them! Neither did Jacoby! You pose a threat! They want you gone, as soon as possible."

Alex stared in disbelief.

"The fact you live with a human doesn't help either. They hate them." She paused. "So, what I'm trying to say is… they'll go after anyone they need too, to get you to leave."

"They seemed so bloody nice…" Said Alex half way talking to himself. He looked up at Cassie. "What can we do?'

"We can wait, but I need to stay here."

"Why?"

"They're after me first."

Alex groaned and rubbed his temples. "Fine you take the bed. I'm not tired anyway."

"Have we forgotten my power?" she said sarcastically. "You haven't slept at all. I have. Now, I can explain to Angela…"

"No." He snapped. "She can't know."

"… Fine. Just go to sleep okay?" She said hopping off of the bed and patting the covers for him.

He just stared back in response. "You expect me to sleep at a time like this?"

"Yes." She said shortly and that was the end of the conversation. She turned and left the room. She knew, however, he had no intention of following her instruction.

Alex sat there with his head in his hands. "What the hell, have I done?" He whispered to himself.

"Don't ask me. You made me leave the room." Said Jacoby as he jumped beside Alex.. "Now what's going on?"

"I can't tell you."

"Not you too mate? How am I supposed to help if …"

"Jacoby!"

Jacoby paused and stared at Alex. "Yea?"

"Shut up. I can't tell you. Go talk to Cassie or something."

"Fine." Said Jacoby as he jumped off of the bed and walked into the hallway. "I'll leave you here to go crazy."

"Alex? What's going on?" Asked Naima as she pushed past Jacoby and ran into his room. "I heard what you and Cassie were talking about. Who did you go see?"

"AH! Fuck me!" Screamed Alex angrily. "This is a mess. Cassie! Come here!"

She ran into the room within seconds. "What is it?"

"Why didn't you tell me she heard us?" He asked as Naima and Jacoby watched confused.

"I… guess I wasn't paying attention."

"You guess?" Said Alex as he stood and walked to Cassie. He stopped in front of all three of them. They were watching him intently.

"Listen to me. All of you." Said Alex, standing strong. "This is not a time for you to space out." He glared at Cassie. "This is war. I don't think you quite understand. And for the record Cassie I can't do this without Jacoby, so we need to tell him. Then there's the fact of Naima. Now she's at risk. I swear the next person who causes me a problem I will personally choke them until their face turns blue! Got it?!"

The sound of footsteps echoed down the stairs

"What's going on down there?" Called Angela.

"Shit. Jacoby take us all out of here." Said Alex as he walked to Jacoby. He grabbed Naima and Cassie by the arms roughly and pushed them to Jacoby. "Now!"

They disappeared.

They all fell to the ground at the school. Jacoby walked to the nearest wall and threw up. Naima, Cassie, and Alex all stumbled and fell.

Jacoby spit and turned to face them. "Don't ever make me do that again!" He said pointing a finger at Alex.

"We didn't have a choice." Said Alex calmly as he stood.

"Well. This is convenient." Said Collin from under the streetlamp.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 15

**Chapter 17**

"Please don't make this difficult." Said Collin as he took a step closer. The rest of the group emerged from the shadows. Adam was the only one missing. "I would hate to hurt your little friends." Alex, Naima, Cassie, and Jacoby slowly gathered closer to each other.

Naima began struggling against some invisible force. It drug her quickly over to Collin's side of the street. It clicked in Alex's head as he watched. It was Anima. Alex started to run to Naima but was stopped by the enormous tiger blocking his way with bared teeth. Alex looked around. He was too far away from his group and was being circled in by the others.

"Now we can talk." Said Collin.

"What Collin?! What do you want?!"

"Do you not understand my problem?"

"No. Why can't I just live here peacefully?"

Collin scowled. "It's mutants like you that make me sick." He turned his head and nodded at Robyn. He punched the air toward Alex and a wall of wind knocked Alex on his back.

Alex groaned and rolled on his side. His head throbbed. Collin walked up to him and rolled him over with one leg and then stepped on his chest.

Alex grimaced. "I don't think that was necessary."

"It was highly necessary." Said Collin as he brought his face closer to Alex's. "Now, you'll join us willingly, or forcibly which ever way you see it, or we'll kill you. Is that a deal?"

"Eat shit and die." Said Alex as he catapulted Collin off of him with a force field "Jacoby! Get Naima."

"You got it." Said Jacoby. He disappeared and reappeared beside Naima and Anima. Jacoby reared back and punched Anima square in the jaw. Anima screamed and released her. Jacoby grabbed Naima, and appeared beside Alex.

"You hit a girl." Said Alex mockingly to Jacoby.

"Oh shut up." Said Jacoby quickly. "Am I taking you out of here?"

"No get them out of here and then come back alright?" replied Alex quietly. The mutants were still surrounding them and Collin had of course recovered quickly and was coming their way.

Jacoby and Naima looked back. "Where's Cassie?"

Alex's head snapped around. "You lost her!" He yelled. He turned to face Collin. "Where the hell is Cassie?!"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Collin.

"Alex!!"

Alex looked up, eyes blazing. Robyn was holding Cassie as they floated in mid-air. Wind was gusting all around Robyn and Cassie causing a mini whirlwind. Lightning began flashing thanks to Gale and it began to look like a tornado.

"Put her down!" Yelled Alex.

"No problem." Replied Robyn. He let go of Cassie and she fell a few feet. Alex screamed and started to catch her when Robyn caught her by her arm and left her hanging there. She let out a scream.

"Stop!" Said Alex. He looked at Collin, teeth bared. "What do you want?"

"Leave."

"What?"

"So you can't hear now?" Said Collin as he smirked. "I said for you to leave. This is survival of the fittest. The animal kingdom and right now you're on our territory." Collin stepped closer to Alex and they faced each other.

"Alex! I'm slipping! He doesn't intend on catching me!" Yelled Cassie calmly.

Alex smiled slightly. "Jacoby, get her and get out of here." He said, still looking at Collin.

Jacoby and Naima disappeared quickly, reappeared in the air, grabbed Cassie and disappeared again.

"He's quite talented." Said Collin. "But I really think it was a mistake for him to leave you here."

"I told them to leave so they wouldn't get hurt."

"We won't hurt you if you only do what we ask." Said Collin smoothly.

"I wasn't afraid you would hurt them." Replied Alex with a tone that mocked Collin's intelligence.

"Oh, really? Then who were you afraid of?"

"Me." Said Alex as he glowered at Collin. He closed his eyes and let out a bloodthirsty scream, barring his teeth. With that his hands shot pure lightning randomly all around him and his head twitched from side to side. A bolt of lightning hit Collin thrusting him backwards. The others backed away slowly, but it was too late. Alex had reached full power and intended on releasing it all on them. He growled loudly and thrust his hands toward the other mutants, working his way around the circle. They didn't try to run. They merely watched in amazement at the blue swirl of light.

Five minutes past, then ten, then fifteen before Alex calmed himself enough to stop. He grunted and fell to his knees. The asphalt was hot underneath him from the electricity. He sighed and looked around. They had passed out from the surge of energy they had just received. Even Robyn was out cold. They would be fine, however. Most of it was only for show. They would walk away unscathed.

Collin had most likely fled. At least that's what Alex hoped. He stood slowly and rubbed his head. He reached out a hand and magnetized a stray garbage can lid; then he was off.


End file.
